Terminal Island

Terminal Island, also known as Isla Raza de Buena Gente, is a man-made island found in Los Angeles County, California. It lies between the neighborhoods of Wilmington and San Pedro in Los Angeles, and next to the city of Long Beach. The island is mostly used for industrial and port activities, with parts of it belonging to the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. One special part of Terminal Island is home to the Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island, which serves an important role in the area.

History

Before World War II

Terminal Island was first known by the Spanish as Isla Raza de Buena Gente and later as Rattlesnake Island. It got its current name in 1891. In 1909, the Southern California Edison Company chose this spot to build a new power plant. Construction began in 1910.

Over time, the island grew larger. In 1909, Los Angeles took control of the nearby area of Wilmington. A man named Phineas Banning owned land here and helped develop the area. In the late 1920s, material from another island was used to add more land to Terminal Island.

In 1930, Ford Motor Company opened a factory here, but it moved away in 1958. In 1927, a field called Allen Field was created, and soon after, the Naval Reserve began using it for training. It later became Naval Air Base San Pedro.

Japanese American fishing community

Starting in 1906, Japanese American families settled on Terminal Island and built a strong community. They fished and worked in canneries, and created their own traditions and language. They faced unfair treatment and were later forced to leave during World War II.

World War II and beyond

During World War II, Terminal Island became a key place for building ships. It was also where African Americans sought opportunities in defense jobs. Many important ships were built here, including 26 destroyers.

After the war, a famous airplane called the Spruce Goose was moved here for its first flight in 1947. A race track opened in 1974 but closed in 1995. Efforts are ongoing to preserve the island's history, including buildings linked to the old Japanese fishing village.

Current use

The west half of Terminal Island is part of the San Pedro area of Los Angeles, while the rest belongs to the city of Long Beach. The island covers an area of 11.56 km² (4.46 sq mi), and had a population of 1,467 in the year 2000.

The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach own most of the land, renting it for places to load and unload big ships. The island also has old fish canning factories, ship repair places, and facilities for the United States Coast Guard.

There is a special building called the Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island that opened in 1938. It houses over 900 people who are serving short sentences.

An old shipyard that closed in 1997 used to take up half the island. Today, a company named SpaceX is renting a small part of the island to work on their big rocket plans. This rocket is too big to move over land, so it will travel by ship through the Panama Canal to places like Florida or Texas. This area was used for building ships from 1918 until it stopped being used in 2005.

Bridges

Terminal Island is linked to the mainland by four bridges. The green Vincent Thomas Bridge in the west is one of California's longest suspension bridges and connects the island to the Los Angeles neighborhood of San Pedro. To the east, the Long Beach International Gateway is the longest cable-stayed bridge in California, linking the island to downtown Long Beach. The Commodore Schuyler F. Heim Bridge connects Terminal Island to the Los Angeles neighborhood of Wilmington in the north. Near the Heim Bridge is a rail bridge known as the Henry Ford Bridge, also called the Badger Avenue Bridge.

In media and popular culture

Terminal Island has been featured in several books, TV shows, and video games. It appeared in the science fiction novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson and in TV episodes like Visiting...with Huell Howser. The island is also part of the settings in The Terror: Infamy, The Fast and the Furious, Need for Speed, and the video game Grand Theft Auto V, where it is called the Port of South Los Santos.