San Pedro Municipal Ferry Building is a former Los Angeles Harbor Department ferry terminal building located at Sixth Street at Harbor Boulevard in the community of San Pedro in Los Angeles, California.[3][4]
The Municipal Ferry Building was built in 1941 as a Works Project Administration (WPA) project, built at Berth 84.[3] It was designed in the Streamline Moderne style by architect Derwood Lydell Irvin of the Los Angeles Harbor Department.[6] It has a five-story octagonal clock tower.[3] Its "sister ferry terminal" was across the main channel at Berth 234, also Irvin designed in the Streamline Moderne and built by the WPA in 1941.[7]
It was a working ferry terminal from 1941 to 1963, for the ferry connecting San Pedro and Terminal Island in the Los Angeles Harbor.[3] During those years, the double-decked ferries "Islander" and "Ace" transported thousands of passengers and automobiles to and from the tuna canneries, docks, shipyards, and military bases on Terminal Island.[3][7]
In 1963, the Vincent Thomas Bridge was completed, connecting mainland San Pedro to Terminal Island, and the ferry service became obsolete.[3] The ferry service was terminated on 14 November, and the bridge opened on 15 November.[7]
The San Pedro terminal building was used for many years as an office building by the Los Angeles Harbor Department.[3] The ferry terminal building on the Terminal Island side was demolished in 1972 to expand cargo operations.[7]
Museum
As the ferry building began to deteriorate, citizens of San Pedro sought to have it restored. They succeeded in having the building designated as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (no. 146) in 1975.
