History of Long Beach

The town grew as a seaside resort with light agricultural uses. The Pike was the most famous beach side amusement zone on the West Coast from 1902 until 1969, it offered bathers food, games and rides, such at the Dual Ferris Wheel and Cyclone Racer' roller coaster. Gradually the oil industry, Navy shipyard and facilities and port became the mainstays of the city. In the 1950s it was referred to as "Iowa by the sea," due to a large influx of people from that and other Midwestern states. Huge picnics for migrants from each state were a popular annual event in Long Beach until the 1960s.

Oil was discovered in 1921 on Signal Hill, which split off as a separate incorporated city shortly afterward. The discovery of the Long Beach Oil Field, brought in by the gusher at the Alamitos No. 1 well, made Long Beach a major oil producer; in the 1920s the field was the most productive in the world. In 1932, the even larger Wilmington Oil Field, fourth-largest in the United States, and which is mostly in Long Beach, was developed, contributing to the city's fame in the 1930s as an oil town.

The Long Beach earthquake of 1933 was a magnitude 6.4 Earthquake that caused significant damage to the city and surrounding areas, killing a total of 120 people. Most of the damage occurred in reinforce masonry buildings, especially schools. Pacific Bible Seminary (now known as Hope International University) was forced to move classes out of First Christian Church of Long Beach and into a small local home due to damage from the earthquake.

The city was the site of "The Los Angeles Air Raid of 1942" during World War II, when observers for the Army Air Corps reported shells being fired from the sea. Anti-aircraft