- Terminal Island
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For other places with the same name, see Rattlesnake Island (disambiguation).
Terminal Island
Isla Raza de Buena Gente
Rattlesnake IslandTerminal Island, which includes Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island
Location within Southern Los Angeles
Terminal IslandCoordinates: 33°45′25″N 118°14′53″W / 33.756963°N 118.248126°W Country United States State California County Los Angeles Cities Los Angeles and Long Beach Terminal Island is an island located in Los Angeles County, California between Los Angeles Harbor and Long Beach Harbor. Originally a mudflat known to the Spanish as Isla Raza de Buena Gente, and later called Rattlesnake Island, it has officially been Terminal Island since 1918. The west half of the island is part of the San Pedro area of the city of Los Angeles, while the rest is part of the city of Long Beach. The island has a land area of 11.56 km2 (4.46 sq mi), 2,854 acres (11.55 km2), and had a population of 1,467 as of the 2000 census.
Contents
History
The island was home to hundreds of first and second-generation Japanese prior to World War II in an area known as East San Pedro. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, all of the adult males were incarcerated by the FBI and the rest of the inhabitants were forced to evacuate their homes within 48 hours. The subsequent enactment of Executive Order 9066 sent all West Coast Japanese and Japanese-American citizens to internment camps. The entire neighborhood was razed.
Because of the relative geographical isolation of the island, the citizens developed their own culture and even their own dialect. After World War II, the Terminal Islanders, naturally, settled elsewhere. However, in 1971, they formed the "Terminal Islanders Club". Since its formation, the members have organized various events for the members. In 2002, the surviving second-generation citizens set up a memorial on Terminal Island to honor their parents.
NAS Terminal Island
In 1927 a civilian facility, Allen Field, was established on Terminal Island. The Naval Reserve established a training center at the field and later took complete control designated the field Naval Air Base San Pedro (also called "Reeves Field").[1] In 1941 the Long Beach Naval Station became located adjacent to the airfield. In 1942 the Naval Reserve Training Facility was transferred and a year later NAB San Pedro's status was downgraded to that of a Naval Air Station (NAS Terminal Island). Reeves Field as a Naval Air Station was disestablished in 1947, although the adjacent Long Beach Naval Station would continued to utilize Reeves Field as an auxiliary airfield until the late 1990s.[2] A large industrial facility now covers the site of the former Naval Air Station.
Ownership
The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach are the major landowners on the island, who then lease much of their land for container terminals and bulk terminals. The island also hosts canneries, shipyards, Coast Guard facilities, and a Federal Correctional Institution.
The Long Beach Naval Shipyard, decommissioned in 1997, occupied roughly half of the island. Sea Launch maintains docking facilities on the mole that was part of the naval station.
Bridges
Terminal Island is connected to the mainland via three bridges. To the west, the distinctively green Vincent Thomas Bridge connects Terminal Island with the Los Angeles neighborhood of San Pedro. It is the fourth longest suspension bridge in California. The Gerald Desmond Bridge connects Terminal Island to downtown Long Beach to the east. The (also green) Commodore Schuyler F. Heim Bridge joins Terminal Island with the Los Angeles neighborhood of Wilmington to the north. Adjacent to the Heim Bridge is the Henry Ford Bridge that carries rail traffic.
In popular culture
In the original Gone in 60 Seconds, the police chase goes across both the Gerald Desmond Bridge and the Vincent Thomas Bridge. The remake, Gone in 60 Seconds, states that Eleanor jumps on the "Vincent Thomas Bridge" when it actually jumps on the Gerald Desmond Bridge.
In the film Death Race, the island is the home of the prison in which most of the film takes place.
Author John Fante makes extensive mention of the island in the novels Ask the Dust and Dreams from Bunker Hill.
In the Neal Stephenson science fiction novel Snow Crash, Terminal Island is part of a "sacrifice zone", a "parcel of land whose clean-up cost exceeds their total future economic value".
In the Leonardo Dicaprio movie Inception the Commodore Schuyler F. Heim Bridge bridge was used for the scene when the main characters are forced to jump a van off a bridge to wake up from one of the levels of the dream.
See also
- List of islands of California
References
- ^ Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: California: Long Beach area
- ^ Historic California Posts: Naval Air Station, Terminal Island
External links
- Furusato - The Lost Village of Terminal Island Website
- National Park Service: A History of Japanese Americans in California: Terminal Island
- The Bridges of Terminal Island (CA 47, CA 103)
Coordinates: 33°45′25″N 118°14′53″W / 33.756963°N 118.248126°W
Harbor Area, Los Angeles Districts and
neighborhoodsHarbor City · Harbor Gateway · San Pedro · Terminal Island · Wilmington
Points of
interestDowntown · Eastside/Northeast · Harbor Area · Greater Hollywood · Westlake/Silver Lake/Los Feliz · San Fernando and Crescenta Valleys · South Los Angeles · Westside · WilshireCategories:- Artificial islands
- Islands of California
- Neighborhoods in Los Angeles, California
- Neighborhoods in Long Beach, California
- Visitor attractions in Long Beach, California
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