outhern California was a hotbed of Confederate sympathizers during the Civil War; thus, the Union Army billeted a division in Wilmington. Never one to squander an opportunity, Phineas kept the Union soldiers well supplied, increasing his fortune and earning himself a commission after the war as a General in the California State Brigade of the National Guard. Providing enough goods for an entire army convinced Phineas that his interests would be best served by the presence of a railroad in Wilmington. As a result, he developed the railroad to promote growth in the region and at the same time to increase his profits with his landing there. To accomplish this, Phineas--or "General Banning," as we all became accustomed to calling him--sought and won election to the California State Senate. There, he convinced the legislature to provide funds for his Los Angeles& San Pedro Railroad.

As the railroad approached completion in 1869, the Los Angeles & San Pedro Railroad Board of Directors determined that the Southern terminus was to be at Wilmington instead of San Pedro. But the General was not content with a local railroad which merely ran between his town and dusty Los Angeles; he yearned to do business on a national scale. At the same time, the Board of Directors decided to sell the railroad to the much larger Southern Pacific. That, and more than a half million dollars, enticed the mammoth railroad company to lay hundreds of miles of additional track into southern California. The General had sold his rail line, but he had turned his town into part of a rail system which spanned the entire continent. Now, he turned his attention to improving and gaining control of the harbor, so that he could have a hand in trade bound for destinations throughout not only the continent, but the entire world.

Stranded | We Land in San Pedro | Stagecoach Adventures
Harnessing the Iron Horse | A Bay Bows to His Will
The Fulfillment of Family | A Fair & Agreeable Isle