FUN FACTS: THEN AND NOW

• When the Port celebrated its 50-year anniversary in 1957, its annual revenue was $7.8 million.  Today, the Port’s annual revenue is almost $370 million.

• On December 9, 1907, the Los Angeles City Council created the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners, marking the official founding of the Port of Los Angeles; however, the first Board was not appointed until March 10, 1908.

• Construction of the Port’s first container terminal cost $1.8 million in 1960.  Today, that same terminal would cost $21 million to build.

• The Port’s Homeland Security division was created in 2002 (shortly after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was restructured), in response to a growing need to make U.S. ports safe against possible terrorist attacks.

• The Port of Los Angeles employed approximately 500 people in 1957 and employs 720 today.

• In 1907, the Port of Los Angeles handled $2 million worth of cargo.  Today, the Port handles nearly $190 billion worth of cargo annually.

• The Port handled 2 million tons of cargo in 1907, compared to 169 million tons of cargo today.

• The Port’s top trading partner in 1907 was the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.  Today, China is the Port’s top trading partner.

• The Port’s first cargo tenant was the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company in 1914.

• The first shipping line to lease container terminal space at the Port of Los Angeles was Matson Navigation Company.

• The first containership to call on the Port of Los Angeles was the Hawaiian Merchant in August of 1958. 

• The container fee in 1977 (when first published in Port of Los Angeles Tariff No. 4) was $52 for a 20-foot container, compared to today’s fee of $193.20 for a 20-foot container.

• In the 1920s, more than 600,000 passengers set sail from the Port of Los Angeles to Catalina Island.  Since 2000, more than 6 million passengers have visited Catalina Island through the Port of Los Angeles.