History of San Pedro Harbor

By 1835, San Pedro had become the most important port on the Pacific Coast. Because of shallow water and mud flats, ships had to drop anchor about a mile off shore, and small boats would then transfer passengers and cargo ashore. These would often capsize, spilling both passengers and cargo into the muddy water. During this time, the Sepulvedas built a crude dock and landing at the base of cliffs near present day Fourteenth and Beacon Streets in San Pedro, which became known as Sepulveda Landing.

San Pedro in 1850, Dead Man’s Island in the background

In 1851, 21 year old Phineas Banning arrived in San Pedro from Philadelphia. Banning, and his partner, George Alexander, soon began operating a stagecoach service from San Pedro. When August Timms bought the Sepulveda Landing, early in 1852, Banning was concerned (Sepulveda Landing then became known as “Timms Landing”).

Monument for Timms’ Point and Landing

When word came from Washington that San Pedro would soon be declared an official port of entry with its own customhouse, Banning negotiated to buy a tract of land from the Sepulvedas, located near Timm’s Landing, and promptly built his own wharf. In November 1854, Banning and a group of investors (J.G Downey, Don Benito Wilson, and William Sanford) purchased 2,400 acres adjacent to San Pedro, for port expansion. This land later became the city of Wilmington, after Banning’s Delaware birthplace.

Bannings Landing, Wilmington, 1870

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