The Harbor Area Podcast

Episode 7. Phineas Banning Part 3.

• Joel Torrez

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Hey folks in part three, we're going to talk about Phineas spanning politics, how his family continued the family business. Catalina island and how the bannings operated the island for nearly 30 decades. Here we go.

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So banning had a grand vision for the development of the port of Los Angeles. What were his long-term goals and how close did he come to realizing them during his lifetime? In 1865. He was going to create a break water and also create a deep. Water port. And he completed all three of those promises. And which This day and age, trying to get any one of those things done is amazing. But I think. For him to be that dedicated with a vision. It's going to change the environment, but it's going to change the economy. It's going to change the population. It's going to change everything. It's going to bring in knowledge. It's going to bring in development. All of this is going to come to our area. And. For him to be able to. Do all of that. And still have time for family. He had relatives from east coast. His brother on the other hand. William Lober banning. That he went to work for as a teenager. He developed. And built a railroad. We're just called the Mississippi and great lakes railroad, he built that the same time Phineas. Built his railroad. And so there's communications back and forth between those two. They're there helping each other. Buy things. Not just through recommendations, like check here. You may have to go to England for the metal. You may have to do New York to purchase the locomotives. And so Phineas. had three sons there going to travel. To the completion ceremony for his brother for the railroads. And Phineas had. Sent a bottle. Water, ocean water. From San Pedro. Too. The ceremony. He had sent his children there during the campaign because his wife had passed. He was in a massive home. With. With no one to take care of him. He was hardly home. He was back and forth in San Francisco. And so he had written his brother and asking, is there any way that you guys can take the boys for maybe a year? And. We send out when it This is nieces. And she is, I believe, 18 or 19. She takes the steamer from St. Paul, and. We think she goes to New York. We haven't figured this part out. And then takes a steamer like Phineas did down to Panama. But. There's no canal. But there is the railroad. So the railroad at the Panama crossing is now working. And so she does that and she goes up, picks up the boys. It takes all three of them back to St. Paul. They stay there for the year. And then she takes him back. California when it's all done just in time for finances celebration to open our railroad. And then takes the steamer bag. So she does this trip. Four times. But Phineas sends a bottle of ocean water that he took from the bay out here. And the, and for the boys, this was like, the guys have to protect, this is going back to uncle William. And so at the ceremony they there's a letter that Phineas had sent with them. That, when they read that it was called the mixing of the waters. And so when the railroad was ready to be unveiled and the locomotives are fired up and ready to go, they take A bottle of water from lake superior. And then a bottle of water from the Pacific ocean. They pour them out at the same time. And they mix them over the engine. So that's the christening. It wasn't champagne. It was water. And so I thought that was pretty special that he thought that much of his brother. To make sure that was achieved. In a time where he's lost his wife and is now going to be separated from his family, his three boys. But he still had that presence of mind. To be able to honor his brother with his accomplishment. Let's talk about his family a little bit more. How did Banning's family, particularly his sons continue his legacy after his death. That's a good question. Early 1880s. They are going to create the Wilmington transportation company. And that company is going to include all of their businesses. And so. Unfortunately Finney has dies in 1885, and he is just, 54. Out of the 11. Children. Only five that make it out of the 11 to adulthood. And so with his first wife, there's three boys, there's William, Joseph, and Hancock banning. And then with his second wife, Mary. There are three daughters and Only to make it to adulthood nets, Mary and Lucy banning. But the three boys. They continue on the Wilmington transportation company WTC. They're big. Business endeavor is Catalina island. So they, by Catalina. And they buy it. And 1892 from George Chateau. And Chateau was a French. Real estate. Developer out of Los Angeles who buys the island. Chateau goes bankrupt. And then it goes, it reverts back to the lick estate. And then that offer is then made to the three brothers and they buy the island. They spend 1892 to 1919 running Catalina. And they're the ones that really, or they develop Avalon and make it. a Victorian Hamlet. It was a resort. It was a destination. It was a place where everybody could go because you could either do tent city. Or you could stay at the grand Metropol hotel, right? And it was welcome for everybody. And they really approached it. I think the way Phineas did with Wilmington. So they are going to create a town. They are going to create a transportation network to get you back and forth. They are going to make roads. They're going to make to connect electricity. They're going to connect, Every sewer, everything that you need. And they did a remarkable job. So when you look at some of the. The photos, especially. Late 1890s, early 19 hundreds. They're just fantastic photos. You see everything happening there. And. They get the devastation of a fire that, ravaged Avalon 1915. And after that fire, they really, they try to make a go at it and bring it back. But they're getting older, right? So the decisions may, because they had already been introduced to the Wrigley family. And by 1919, the Wrigley family made him an offer but they kept William banning who was really like the patriarch of the family after Phineas dies. He never gets married. He takes care of the family and make sure that everybody's taken care of. So William is the patriarch of the family. After Phineas dies. Yeah. He really, and he lives, he's born 1858 and he makes it all the way to 1946. But they have a fire. It's sold. The Wrigley's are not going to redesign Avalon There's very few. Victorian elements that are still over. Yes. But they do ask William to be on their board of directors. For development. And so William stays on the board another 10 years. Just helping the Wrigleys organize and get everything. Built and designed and installed the way, the Wrigley's won it. I had no idea that the bannings owned it before the Wrigleys. You'll have to have me back so I can do the whole banning Catalina talk with you. Oh, I would love that. I would really love that. So we're going to transition what role did Banning's home? Now, a museum play in preserving his legacy. And what can we learn from it today? It's a good question. So this year, 2024, we're celebrating and recognizing the 50th anniversary. For our nonprofit and that. Let's started 1974 by Nancy banning. Nancy banning call who she, it was Phineas. His great granddaughter. She's still with us. She'll be 100 next year. Wow. Wow. But. It got to a point. By the 1920s. Let's back up. So when Phineas passes away, 1885. His wife. Mary Hollister and this is Hollister, California. She decides Wilmington's not the place. So she moves out. And she takes her daughters because she wanted them to have education and, The LA environment. So she leaves and this just leaves the boys at home. And they're trying to get everything. Under control and run and operated. And so the three boys. Are now in a point where we're the two sons, Joseph. And Hancock are going to get married. And so each one of those two first it's Joseph and his wife, they spend some time in the house. They move out. Now at the Hancock's term. He moves in. And he's there right until. About 1925 when he passes away. So William banning has already got a home in Los Angeles. And the house really at that point, I don't mean any. Disrespect in it, but it becomes a huge white elephant. It's it's massive. We're talking, 17,000 square feet, in for a family of five. Come on. It's huge. It's difficult to maintain. My, my house is like 1600 square feet. Yeah. And it's a lot. It's a lot of work for one person. Yeah. It's during this time, the 1920s that especially in the Harbor area that is becoming apparent with the population is growing. There's no parks. One of the earliest ones is the two earliest ones are going to be point Fermin in an Averil park. Okay. That the LA parks department is. Operating. So in Wilmington, The banning family is being approached. By Hey, what are you guys going to do? Cause it's a 20 acre. Section is what. Down from 222 acres down to 20 acres. Now that's all been sold off. And they're approaching the family thing. What would you guys consider? Making the meat, the home, a museum and a park. And so talks, progress. And so by 1927, it becomes part of the city of LA parks department. And during the 19. Thirties now of course we get into the great depression. But they're still making improvements on the property and on the grounds and they're turning it into a park. So even though Ann and Hancock banning, when they were living there, the last ones. They had changed.'cause when Phineas is there, right? It's an actual working ranch, right? Barnes cattle props, all of that's taking place there, but that phased out and now it's becoming a residential setting. And so that takes place during the 1930s. And the amount of people that you read in the newspaper, in the archives about who was at the park on the weekends, what special guests were there? What concerts were being played it became really the center point of town. Because there was no place else to go. As you would have groups that had picnics and gatherings, and it was just really amazing. during the thirties is when the museum first started. But of course, the end of the thirties, then we get into 1941. And so as soon as Pearl Harbor happens and then we get into world war, we get into 1942. And of course we step into the war. The army and other. Branches of military or looking for space in the Harbor. So they take two thirds of banning part. And those two thirds of the park included. The house, the barns. And what was left was basically where the recreation side is. On what's on, At the end down on Eubank. Sure. So it's that little section is left. For the whole town. So you're, you've taken two thirds out of the picture. And so during world war two, they the army and the other group, which was the women's I guess they call them the waves. Okay. They're there in the park. They're living in the mansion. Not together, but they're living in the mansion. It's an officer's quarters. They. They're billing, Quonset huts are being put up. Other buildings, instructors. And when that happens, You then start a racing. What was there beforehand, right? So a lot of the original landscape, the original roadways. All of that starts vanishing. And you can tell the tell that happens through the aerial photos when you look at one of the last. Aerial photos before world war II that we have. You just see this park that is literally just a forest of trees and. All kinds of different. Amenities that the park department put in. Cause we had a canal. We had just huge picnic grounds. Well, and they even had a Japanese style water garden. And an amphitheater. After world war two. Then the army decides that they're going to keep that land, that they took the two thirds and it's going to now be housing. For service members and their families that come back. And that sticks around till 1953. And so finally, the army is gone. And. Just in time, Wilmington is getting ready for its 75th anniversary. And so there was a big rush to get the house back open. We're going to jump into the history of the museum and more about your work. But I wanted to ask this question. If banning were alive today. How do you think he would react to the modern state of Los Angeles and its port system?

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So folks, we're going to ask you to stay tuned and listen to part four, which is being released simultaneously with this episode.

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Hey, thank you for listening today. If you enjoyed today's episode, please make sure to click download. Let me know if you have any stories to tell about the Harbor area. Email me@harborareapodcastatyahoo.com. That's Harbor area podcast@yahoo.com.

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Take care and remember to treat each other kindly.