Industrial growth began with the discovery of the Signal Hill oilfield in 1921. The area developed as a port and naval shipyard.
The local economy suffered in the 1990s with closure of the shipyard and cutbacks at the McDonnell Douglas plant.
Median rent in Long Beach, at the time of the 2000 Census, was $580. Monthly homeowner costs, for people with mortgages, were $1,476.
Long Beach is a city located in southern California, USA, on the Pacific coast. It is situated in Los Angeles County, about 20 miles (30 km) south of downtown Los Angeles. Long Beach borders Orange County on its southeast edge.
Long Beach is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the fifth-largest in California. As of 2006, its estimated population was 466,718. In addition, Long Beach is the largest city nationwide that is not a county seat.
The Port of Long Beach is one of the world's largest shipping ports. The city also has a large oil industry; oil is found both underground and offshore. Manufacturers include aircraft, automobile parts, electronic and audiovisual equipment, and home furnishings.
Long Beach History
Indigenous people have lived in coastal southern California for at least ten thousand years. Over the centuries, several successive cultures inhabited the present-day area of Long Beach. By the time Spanish explorers arrived in the 16th century, the dominant group were the Tongva people.
The town grew as a seaside resort (The Pike was one of the most famous beachside amusement parks on the West coast from 1902 until the 1960s) and then as an oil, Navy, and port town. The town was once referred to as "Iowa by the sea," due to a large influx of people from that state and other states in the Midwest. Huge picnics for each state were a popular annual event in Long Beach until the 1960s.
