A history of Long Beach,
since 1888
Postcards, papers and photographs of Long Beach from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗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. Povuu'nga was particularly important to the Tongva, not only as a regional trading center and hub for fishermen, but for its deep ceremonial significance, being understood as their place of emergence as a people from which their lives began.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Long Beach’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewExterior view of the Willmore Hot…, 1887: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Long Beach
See all 31 →
Long Beach, decade by decade
CommonsLong Beach1900
CommonsOpening day of the Pacific Electric line(?) at the Long Bea…c. 1900
CommonsHuge crowds of people on the beach near the Long Beach Bath…c. 1902
CommonsUntitled photo1902
CommonsPacific Electric and Salt Lake Railroad station in Long Bea…1905
CommonsView of Long Beach pier and pavilion, taken from the promen…c. 1905
LOCLong Beach pier1905
LOCLong Beach pier & bathers1905
LOCHotel Virginia19051990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Exterior view of the Willmore Hotel circa 1887 (1887) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Historic places
National Register · via Wikidata
From Wikimedia Commons (8), the Library of Congress (3) and the National Register (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.