Editing Long Beach, California (section)

==History==
{{For timeline}}

===Tongva period===
[[File:Puvunga Indian Village Sites.jpg|left|thumb|172x172px|The site of [[Puvunga]] was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1974.]]
[[Native Americans in the United States|Indigenous people]] have lived in coastal Southern California for over 10,000 years, and several successive cultures have inhabited the present-day area of Long Beach. By the 16th-century arrival of Spanish explorers, the dominant group was the [[Tongva]], who had established at least three major settlements within the present-day city. ''Tevaaxa'anga'' was an inland settlement near the [[Los Angeles River]], while ''Ahwaanga'' and ''[[Povuu'nga]]'' were coastal villages.<ref name="tfa">{{Cite book | last = McCawley | first = William | title=The First Angelinos: The Gabrielino Indians of Los Angeles | orig-year = 1952 | edition = Paperback | year=1996 | publisher=Malki Museum Press/Ballena Press | isbn=978-0-9651016-0-8}}</ref> Povuu'nga was particularly important to the Tongva, not only as a regional trading center and hub for fishermen,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Society |first=California Historical |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IIXjAAAAMAAJ |title=California Historical Society Quarterly |date=1966 |publisher=California Historical Society |pages=21–23 |language=en}}</ref> but for its deep ceremonial significance, being understood as their place of emergence as a people from which their lives began.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |last1=Greene |first1=Sean |last2=Curwen |first2=Thomas |date=May 9, 2019 |title=Mapping the Tongva villages of L.A.'s past |newspaper=LA Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-tongva-map/ |access-date=June 19, 2019}}</ref>

===Spanish and Mexican period===
[[File:Portrait_of_Don_Juan_Temple,_an_early_owner_of_the_Ranch_Los_Cerritos_in_Long_Beach.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Don [[Juan Temple]] purchased [[Rancho Los Cerritos]], covering modern-day Long Beach, in 1843.]]
[[File:Historic American Buildings Survey, Photographed by Daniel Cathcart, March 8th, 1934. GENERAL VIEW OF NORTH SIDE - Casa de los Cerritos, 4600 American Avenue, Long Beach, Los HABS CAL,19-LONGBN,1-8 (cropped).tif|thumb|left|In 1844, Juan Temple built the [[Los Cerritos Ranch House|Casa de los Cerritos]], the oldest building in Long Beach, in a [[Monterey Colonial architecture|Monterey Colonial style]].|172x172px]]
In 1784, the [[Spanish Empire]]'s [[King Carlos III]] granted [[Rancho Los Nietos]] to Spanish soldier [[Manuel Nieto (soldier)|Manuel Nieto]]. The [[Rancho Los Cerritos]] and [[Rancho Los Alamitos]] were divided from this territory. The boundary between the two ranchos ran through the center of Signal Hill on a southwest to northeast diagonal. A portion of western Long Beach was originally part of the [[Rancho San Pedro]]. Its boundaries were in dispute for years, due to flooding changing the [[Los Angeles River]] boundary between Rancho San Pedro and Rancho Los Nietos.

By 1805, what had been the major Tongva village of [[Puvunga]] was thoroughly depleted of villagers, most of whom were brought to [[Mission San Gabriel Arcángel|Mission San Gabriel]] for [[Conversion to Christianity|conversion]] and as a labor force.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Guinn |first=James Miller |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xu81AQAAMAAJ |title=History of the State of California and Biographical Record to Oakland and Environs: Also Containing Biographies of Well-known Citizens of the Past and Present |date=1907 |publisher=Historic Record Company |pages=57–59 |language=en |type=Digitized eBook}}</ref> Many villagers died at the mission, which had a [[Spanish missions in California#Death rate at the missions|high rate of death]], particularly among children,<ref name=":172">{{Cite journal |last=Singleton |first=Heather Valdez |date=2004 |title=Surviving Urbanization: The Gabrieleno, 1850–1928 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1409498 |journal=Wíčazo Ša Review |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=49–59 |doi=10.1353/wic.2004.0026 |jstor=1409498|s2cid=161847670}}</ref> attributed to many factors like diseases that spread quickly in the close quarters of the mission's walls, as well as torture, malnourishment, and overworking.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Pritzker |first=Barry |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/42683042 |title=A Native American encyclopedia : history, culture, and peoples |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |others=Barry Pritzker |isbn=0-19-513877-5 |location=Oxford |page=114 |oclc=42683042}}</ref>

[[File:Diseño Del Rancho Los Alamitos 1852 Los Cerritos Santa Gertrudis Coyotes Siérritos Bolsas.jpg|thumb|left|[[Diseño]] depicting Ranchos [[Rancho Los Alamitos|Los Alamitos]], [[Rancho Los Cerritos|Los Cerritos]], [[Rancho Santa Gertrudes|Santa Gertrudes]], [[Rancho Los Coyotes|Los Coyotes]], [[Rancho Las Bolsas|Las Bolsas]], 1852]]

In 1843, [[Juan Temple]] bought [[Rancho Los Cerritos]], having arrived in California in 1827 from [[New England]]. He built what is now known as the "[[Los Cerritos Ranch House]]", a still-standing [[adobe]] which is a [[National Historic Landmark]]. Temple created a thriving cattle ranch and prospered, becoming the wealthiest man in Los Angeles County. Both Temple and his ranch house played important local roles in the [[Mexican–American War]]. On an island in the [[San Pedro Bay (California)|San Pedro Bay]], [[Mormon]] pioneers made an abortive attempt to establish a colony (as part of [[Brigham Young]]'s plan to establish a continuous chain of settlements from the Pacific to [[Salt Lake City|Salt Lake]]).

===Post-Conquest period===
[[File:Pine Street, Long Beach (15301961807).jpg|thumb|right|The [[First National Bank of Long Beach]] at the turn of the century]]
Following the U.S. [[Conquest of California]], Temple had his Rancho Los Cerritos deeded to him by the [[Public Land Commission]]. In 1866, Temple sold Rancho Los Cerritos for $20,000 to the Northern California sheep-raising firm of [[Bixby land companies|Flint, Bixby & Company]], which consisted of brothers Thomas and Benjamin Flint and their cousin [[Bixby family|Llewellyn Bixby]]. Two years previous Flint, Bixby & Co had also purchased along with Northern California associate [[James Irvine (landowner)|James Irvine]], three ranchos which would later become the city that bears Irvine's name. To manage Rancho Los Cerritos, the company selected Llewellyn's brother Jotham Bixby, the "Father of Long Beach". Three years later, Bixby bought into the property and would later form the Bixby Land Company. In the 1870s, as many as 30,000 sheep were kept at the ranch and sheared twice yearly to provide wool for trade. In 1880, Bixby sold {{convert|4,000|acre|km2}} of the Rancho Los Cerritos to [[William E. Willmore]], who subdivided it in hopes of creating a farm community, [[Willmore, Long Beach, California|Willmore City]]. He failed and was bought out by a Los Angeles syndicate that called itself the "Long Beach Land and Water Company". They changed the name of the community to Long Beach at that time.

===Incorporation===
[[File:Long Beach Pier 1905.png|thumb|Long Beach pier, 1905]]
[[File:Panoramic view of the Long Beach pier, Los Angeles, 1925 (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|Long Beach pier, 1925]]
The City of Long Beach was officially incorporated in 1897. The town grew as a [[seaside resort]] with light agricultural uses.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.longbeachgrows.org/LongBeachGrows/Long_Beachs_Agricultural_Past.html |title=Long Beach's Agricultural Past: A Brief Summary of Long Beach's Ag History |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515184338/http://www.longbeachgrows.org/LongBeachGrows/Long_Beachs_Agricultural_Past.html |archive-date=May 15, 2011 }}</ref> [[The Pike]] was the most famous beachside amusement zone on the West Coast from 1902 until 1969; it offered bathers food, games and rides, such at the ''Sky Wheel'' dual [[Ferris wheel]] and [[The Pike#Cyclone Racer|''Cyclone Racer'']] [[roller coaster]]. Gradually the oil industry, Navy shipyard and facilities and port became the mainstays of the city. In the 1950s it was referred to as "Iowa by the sea", due to a large influx of people from that and other [[Midwestern United States|Midwestern]] states. Huge picnics for migrants from each state were a popular annual event in Long Beach until the 1960s.
Another Bixby cousin, John W. Bixby, was influential in the city. After first working for his cousins at Los Cerritos, J.W. Bixby leased land at [[Rancho Los Alamitos]]. He put together a group: banker [[I.W. Hellman]], Llewellyn and Jotham Bixby, and him, to purchase the rancho. In addition to bringing innovative farming methods to the Alamitos (which under [[Abel Stearns]] in the late 1850s and early 1860s was once the largest cattle ranch in the US), J.W. Bixby began the development of the oceanfront property near the city's picturesque bluffs. Under the name Alamitos Land Company, J.W. Bixby named the streets and laid out the parks of his new city. This area would include Belmont Heights, Belmont Shore and Naples; it soon became a thriving community of its own. J.W. Bixby died in 1888 of apparent [[appendicitis]]. The Rancho Los Alamitos property was split up, with Hellman getting the southern third, Jotham and Llewellyn, the northern third, and J.W. Bixby's widow and heirs keeping the central third. The Alamitos townsite was kept as a separate entity, but at first, it was primarily run by Llewellyn and Jotham Bixby, although I.W, Hellman (who had the largest single share) had a significant veto power, an influence made even stronger as the J.W. Bixby heirs began to side with Hellman more and more.

When Jotham Bixby died in 1916, the remaining {{convert|3,500|acre|km2}} of Rancho Los Cerritos was subdivided into the neighborhoods of [[Bixby Knolls]], [[California Heights, Long Beach, California|California Heights]], [[Los Cerritos, Long Beach, California|Los Cerritos]], [[North Long Beach, Long Beach, California|North Long Beach]] and part of the city of [[Signal Hill, California|Signal Hill]].

Pine Avenue near 4th became the center of a large shopping district. Besides upscale [[Buffums]] (1912; expanded 1926),<ref>{{cite news |title=New Buffums' Store Opens; 5th Under Way |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56018627/new-buffums-pomona-and-lb-history/ |publisher=Long Beach Independent |date=October 2, 1969 |page=9}}</ref> in 1929 alone [[Barker Brothers]], the [[Marti's|Hugh A. Marti Co.]], and [[Wise Company]] and [[Famous Department Store|Famous]] department stores built large new stores,<ref>{{cite news |title=$7 Million Spent for Building Downtown in 1929 |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-nov-04-1959-4370500/ |access-date=March 19, 2024 |work=Press-Telegram |publisher=Press-Telegram (reprinted in November 4, 1959, edition) |date=December 31, 1929 |location=Long Beach, California |page=33}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Long Beach Marks Record-Breaking Era in Construction |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56020026/long-beach-marks-record-breaking-era-in/ |work=Los Angeles Times |date=July 7, 1929}}</ref> [[Fifth Street Store#Walker's Long Beach|Walker's]] (1933), and nearby at American and 5th, [[Sears]] (1928) and [[Montgomery Ward]] (1929). It would remain popular until suburban malls sprung up starting in the 1950s. (see also: [[History of Retail in Southern California]])

Oil was discovered in 1921 on Signal Hill, which split off as a separately incorporated city shortly afterward. The discovery of the [[Long Beach Oil Field]], brought in by the [[oil gusher|gusher]] at the [[Alamitos oil well|Alamitos oil well#1]], made Long Beach a major oil producer; in the 1920s the field was the most productive in the world.<ref name="MMS">Schmitt, R. J., Dugan, J. E., and M. R. Adamson. "Industrial Activity and Its Socioeconomic Impacts:
Oil and Three Coastal California Counties." MMS OCS Study 2002-049. Coastal Research Center, Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, California. MMS Cooperative Agreement Number 14-35-01-00-CA-31603. 244 pages; p. 47.</ref> In 1932, the even larger [[Wilmington Oil Field]], fourth-largest in the United States, and which is mostly in Long Beach, was developed, contributing to the city's fame in the 1930s as an oil town.<ref name="annual2007">{{cite web | title = Oil and Gas Statistics: 2007 Annual Report | work = California Department of Conservation | date = December 31, 2007 | url = ftp://ftp.consrv.ca.gov/pub/oil/annual_reports/2007/0102stats_07.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190412020957/ftp://ftp.consrv.ca.gov/pub/oil/annual_reports/2007/0102stats_07.pdf | url-status = dead | archive-date = April 12, 2019 | access-date = August 25, 2009 }}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite news|url=https://www.kcet.org/shows/city-rising/a-history-of-housing-practices-in-long-beach|title=A History of Housing Practices in Long Beach|date=September 13, 2017|work=KCET|access-date=November 14, 2018|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114060805/https://www.kcet.org/shows/city-rising/a-history-of-housing-practices-in-long-beach|archive-date=November 14, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

The M6.4 [[1933 Long Beach earthquake]] caused significant damage to the city and surrounding areas, killing a total of 120 people. Most of the damage occurred in [[unreinforced masonry building]]s, especially schools. [[Pacific Bible Seminary]] (now known as [[Hope International University]]) was forced to move classes out of First Christian Church of Long Beach and into a small local home due to damage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://library.hiu.edu/pbs/pbs.htm|title=Pacific Bible Seminary|work=hiu.edu|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331064031/http://library.hiu.edu/pbs/pbs.htm|archive-date=March 31, 2012}}</ref>
[[File:LongBeachFord.jpg|thumb|left|[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]'s [[Long Beach Assembly]] in 1930]]
[[File:Woman worker in the Douglas Aircraft Company plant1942.jpg|thumb|Worker in the [[Douglas Aircraft Company]] plant, Long Beach, 1942. Photo by [[Alfred T. Palmer]].|left]]
[[File:Douglas Aircraft plant, Long Beach, CA.tiff|thumb|[[C-54]] transport planes being built in the Douglas Aircraft Company plant in Long Beach during World War II<ref>Parker, Dana T. ''Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los Angeles Area in World War II'', p. 47, Cypress, CA, 2013. {{ISBN|978-0-9897906-0-4}}.</ref>]]
The [[Ford Motor Company]] built a factory called [[Long Beach Assembly]] at the then address in 1929 as "700 Henry Ford Avenue, Long Beach" where the factory began building the [[Ford Model A (1927–1931)|Ford Model A]]. Production of Ford vehicles continued after the war until 1960, when the plant was closed due to a fire,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fordmotorhistory.com/factories/long_beach/index.php|title=Ford Long Beach Assembly Plant|work=fordmotorhistory.com|access-date=July 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150313131315/http://fordmotorhistory.com/factories/long_beach/index.php|archive-date=March 13, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> and January 1991 when the factory was demolished partially due to [[Smog#Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley|air quality remediation efforts]]. Ford had earlier opened a factory in Los Angeles at 12th Street and Olive, with a later factory built at East Seventh Street and Santa Fe Avenue after 1914.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://cdn.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/ca/ca1600/ca1604/data/ca1604data.pdf |title=page 13 |access-date=August 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904094158/http://cdn.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/ca/ca1600/ca1604/data/ca1604data.pdf |archive-date=September 4, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Come 1938, the creation of Housing Authorities for both the City and County of Los Angeles were complete — and North Long Beach was to be home to the County Authority's first order of business: the Carmelitos Housing Project, Southern California's first affordable housing complex.<ref name="auto" />

===World War II and contemporary history===
Long Beach, as a port city, had a relationship with the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] even before the war.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Garcia |first=Monique |date=March 2023 |title=East Long Beach's Development During WWII |pages=20 |work=Long Beach 908 |url=https://indd.adobe.com/view/71813aa2-7d42-46c6-a469-7e04844ef781 |access-date=May 6, 2023}}</ref> The city was part of the [[Battle of Los Angeles]] during [[World War II]] when observers for the [[United States Army Air Forces]] reported shells being fired from the sea. Anti-aircraft batteries fired into the night sky, although no planes were ever sighted.

Long Beach's population grew substantially during and after the war, with workers being needed for [[Military production during World War II|wartime manufacturing]] and [[G.I. Bill|G.I. bill]] recipients seeking out homes in California.<ref name=":2" /> Suburbs were built by the [[Bixby land companies]] and others.<ref name=":2" />

[[Douglas Aircraft Company]]'s largest facility was its Long Beach plant, totaling {{convert|1,422,350|sqft|m2}}. The first plane rolled out the door on December 23, 1941. The plant produced [[Douglas C-47 Skytrain|C-47 Skytrain]] transports, [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17 Flying Fortress]] bombers, and [[Douglas A-20 Havoc|A-20 Havoc]] attack bombers simultaneously. Douglas merged with the [[McDonnell Aircraft|McDonnell Aircraft Company]] in 1967 where the [[Douglas DC-8]] and the [[McDonnell Douglas DC-9]] were built. In 1997 McDonnell Douglas merged with [[Boeing]], which made [[C-17 Globemaster]] transport planes in Long Beach until the closure of the manufacturing facility in 2015.<ref>Herman, Arthur. ''Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II'', pp. 202–203, Random House, New York, 2012. {{ISBN|978-1-4000-6964-4}}.</ref><ref>Parker, Dana T. ''Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los Angeles Area in World War II'', pp. 35–48, Cypress, CA, 2013. {{ISBN|978-0-9897906-0-4}}.</ref>

Long Beach also saw an instance of the Chicano(a) movement in 1968.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.longbeach.gov/health/healthy-living/office-of-equity/reconciliation/equity-timeline|title= Equity Timeline}}</ref>