News Stories 100 Years Ago

The “Roaring” twenties begin! Prohibition, scandal and growth all marked the beginning of this decade. Read all about it here.

U.S. Census

On May 3, 1920, results of the 1920, U.S. Census were released and the front page headline in the Daily Telegram read: “Wonder city of South California is still on top. Percentage of gain is among highest reported by Census Bureau; is second city in county and third South of Tehachipi.”

In the decade since 1910, when the official population tally revealed a population of 17,809 residents, Long Beach had increased to 55,593. This was an increase of 37,784 or 212.2 percent.

If unannexed territory surrounding the municipality had been annexed before the census, the city’s population would have been approximately 65,000. Other statistics reported in the Daily Telegram article reveal a more complete picture of the development of Long Beach: Its monthly industrial payroll leaped from $7,000 in 1910 to $650,000 in 1920; its industrial plant investments from $100,000 to $10,000,000, and its bank deposits from $4,274,225 to $28,655,205.

So what would you find if you went to Long Beach in 1920? Reporter Reed Heustus told readers of what he saw in the June 29th Los Angeles Herald.

Long Beach was more than a beach resort, Heustus reported. It was now an industrial center, but it continued to hold its charms for pleasure seekers. It was home to state society picnics, jazz, fishing and yet a place of quiet homes. In fact, everything was new in Long Beach except the ocean.

If you wandered through the town you might come across the Balboa Film studio, and the rejuvenated Pike, where one could hear every known language of the world.

Long Beach had come a long way since 1884 when the settlement consisted of a dozen houses, a horse car line with wooden rails and the beginnings of a water system.

Gradually it gathered momentum. By 1900 the population was 2,252. It was in the decennial period from 1900 to 1910 that Long Beach began its real development. The city’s population increase in that time was 690.8 per cent, which won it the fame of being the fastest growing city in the United States.

The Los Angeles Times also lauded Long Beach in its May 5, 1920 issue: “All California should feel grateful to Long Beach; for the frequently repeated cynicism that no community here can hope to measure up to the claims of its boosters has been refuted very satisfactorily and very convincingly by the beach city. So, hail to the fair city of Long Beach. It has not only set a mark for the whole nation, but it has outstripped its own boosters.”

Though she didn’t qualify for the 1920 census, having been born after the census count, May Bird became the first Native American born in the City of Long Beach. Little baby Bird made her entry into the world at the Frances Campbell Apartments, 249 Pine Avenue, in early May 1920.

Her mother had been visiting Long Beach when the baby decided to arrive early. Her father, Virgil Bird, had yet to see his daughter. He was a member of the Chickasaw tribe and worked in the oil industry in Oklahoma and Texas. He was anxiously awaiting his wife and newborn daughter’s return to their home in Oklahoma. May Bird, who weighed in at 8.5 pounds was named for the landlady, Miss May Johnson, who was the first person to have seen her.

Claudine Burnett is a retired Long Beach Public Library librarian who compiled the library’s Long Beach History Index (available on the library’s website). In her research, she found many forgotten, interesting stories about Long Beach and Southern California which she has published in 11 books as well as in monthly blogs. You can access information about her books and read her blogs by going to her website: www.claudineburnettbooks.com.