The Long Beach area's original inhabitants were the Tongva people, who gathered acorns and other natural foods, fished and hunted small game.
The Spanish claimed the area in 1542, and in 1784, the King of Spain gave a 300,000-acre land grant to soldier Manuel Nieto, which was later subdivided. The Rancho Los Cerritos section was sold to John Temple of Massachusetts in 1843. He created a prosperous cattle ranch here, making his fortune selling meat to gold miners in the north.
When the cattle industry began to fail, sheep ranching became popular for a time, until about 1870, when the city of Long Beach was formed. Originally called Willmore City by developer William Willmore, Long Beach was incorporated in 1888 and named for its long, wide beaches.
In the early twentieth century, Long Beach became famous as a seaside resort, home to The Pike, one of the west coast's most famous beachside amusement parks. The Navy came to town, the oil industry grew and the port became busier. In 1947, Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose, the world's largest airplane, made its one and only flight in Long Beach Harbor.
Long Beach was also a center of the early silent film industry, home to Balboa Amusement Producing Company, and to silent movie stars Fatty Arbuckle and Theda Bara, among others.
