European settlement began in 1769 as part of an effort to populate California, although trade restrictions encouraged more smuggling than regular business.
In 1784, the Spanish Crown deeded Rancho San Pedro, a tract of over 75,000 acres (300 km²), to retired soldier Juan José Domínguez, who helped explore California with the Portolá expedition in 1769–1770.
Rancho San Pedro was the first land grant in the Alta California portion of the Province of Las Californias in New Spain.

When New Spain won its independence from the Spanish Empire and Alta California became part of Mexico, the trade restrictions were lifted, and the town flourished.

Under United States control after 1848, when the United States defeated Mexico in the Mexican-American war, the harbor was greatly improved and expanded under the guidance of Phineas Banning and John Gately Downey, the seventh governor of California after the Free Harbor Fight.
In 1868 Banning created the Los Angeles & San Pedro Railroad, Southern California's first railroad and used it to transport goods from San Pedro Bay to Los Angeles, which soon became a major city in Southern California.

San Pedro was a township in the 1860 census.
 The township consisted of the present-day South Bay communities, Compton and western Long Beach.
 Census records report a population of 359 in 1860.
 The township was renamed Wilmington Township for 1870.

In 1906, the city of Los Angeles annexed the Harbor Gateway, a long, narrow strip of land connecting the city to the northern border of Wilmington, and in 1909, the larger city consolidated with Wilmington and with San Pedro.

In 1929, the city experienced the Sunken City Disaster, where an earthquake caused multiple homes to slide off a cliff into the sea.
European settlement began in 1769 as part of an effort to populate California, although trade restrictions encouraged more smuggling than regular business. In 1784, the Spanish Crown deeded Rancho San Pedro, a tract of over 75,000 acres (300 km²), to retired soldier Juan José Domínguez, who helped explore California with the Portolá expedition in 1769–1770. Rancho San Pedro was the first land grant in the Alta California portion of the Province of Las Californias in New Spain.
When New Spain won its independence from the Spanish Empire and Alta California became part of Mexico, the trade restrictions were lifted, and the town flourished.
Under United States control after 1848, when the United States defeated Mexico in the Mexican-American war, the harbor was greatly improved and expanded under the guidance of Phineas Banning and John Gately Downey, the seventh governor of California after the Free Harbor Fight. In 1868 Banning created the Los Angeles & San Pedro Railroad, Southern California's first railroad and used it to transport goods from San Pedro Bay to Los Angeles, which soon became a major city in Southern California.
San Pedro was a township in the 1860 census.  The township consisted of the present-day South Bay communities, Compton and western Long Beach.  Census records report a population of 359 in 1860.  The township was renamed Wilmington Township for 1870.
In 1906, the city of Los Angeles annexed the Harbor Gateway, a long, narrow strip of land connecting the city to the northern border of Wilmington, and in 1909, the larger city consolidated with Wilmington and with San Pedro.
In 1929, the city experienced the Sunken City Disaster, where an earthquake caused multiple homes to slide off a cliff into the sea.
San Pedro, Los Angeles