Phineas Banning had a Dream
Father of The Port of Los Angeles - The Improbable Gateway
Shortly after California became part of the United States, a twenty-one year old ambitious Phineas Banning, moved to southern California arriving in 1851. He travelled from the east coast through the Panama Canal before there were channel locks built in 1914.
Eager to make a name for himself, he settled in today's Wilmington, California about 3 miles from the Pacific ocean. There were only three main corridors into Los Angeles over a hundred years ago; with two over the mountains and one muddy improbable ocean gateway.
In Bannings effort to expand a number of transportation services, he ran for Senate and gained funding to create and accomplish the following:
Dredging to deepen the waterways for vessels calling San Pedro.
Barge transportation (shallow / muddy / limited vessel anchorage)
Breakwater construction
Connect US Santa Fe Rail - Transcontinental Rail System
The signing of the 13th Amendment under President Lincoln.
Door to Door transportation: Stage Coaches from Port to door.
Maintenance/Repairs for Carriages: Forerunner of today's Mechanics.
US Mail post office
Built in 1864 - The Banning Home is a Museum today located just north of the Port of Los Angeles Container Terminals. It is surrounded by eucalyptus trees that were also introduced by Phineas, to use the lumber for the Rail construction. However, while harvesting the trees they descovered it was too soft a wood, to use in railroad construction.
Located in a typical port city’that works both the Rail and Container terminals, Wilmington, CA and Phineas Banning, go hand-in-hand with gateway history. A truly remarkable young man that accomplished not only the improbable gateway, but a legacy known today as: The Port of Los Angeles. A great museum tour for SCM & Logistics enthusiasts.
Terry Leifi-Silverstein