Port of LA Will Preserve Its Canned Tuna History and More

The Port of Los Angeles may have just become the first port in the country with a historic preservation policy to call its own. Per the new guidelines, which were written with input from the LA Conservancy, the port will now make it a priority to preserve buildings and sites more than 50 years old. According to KPCC, the port's executive director says the new policy not only provides a framework for identifying historic sites, but allows for their preservation or reuse. It's a big victory for local preservationists; just last year the port's Terminal Island was named one of the 11 most endangered historic places in the country. You know who else should be celebrating? Lovers of canned tuna. Starkist and Chicken of the Sea both had canneries on Terminal Island which, according to the Conservancy, launched the global canned tuna industry (which is also why there's a tuna on the official LA County seal). But for those of you unmoved by fish in a can, Terminal Island has non-tuna significance, too: it was a major shipbuilding center during both World Wars, and was home to a large Japanese-American community whose members were forcibly interred during World War II.
· The Port of LA adopts policy to protect historical buildings and sites [KPCC]
· Port of LA's Terminal Island (And Its Canned Tuna History) One of US's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places [Curbed LA]