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City Council designates two Terminal Island buildings as historic cultural monuments
Summary
The Los Angeles City Council voted to designate the last two remaining buildings from Terminal Island’s pre‑World War II Japanese American fishing village as historic cultural monuments after public testimony from descendants and preservation groups.
The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to designate two remaining buildings from the pre‑World War II Japanese American community on Terminal Island as historic cultural monuments, after public comment from descendants of the island’s residents and preservation advocates.
The designation recognizes the buildings as physical reminders of a once‑thriving fishing village of about 3,000 Japanese American residents that was dismantled after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the February 1942 forced removal of island residents, speakers said.
“Today’s motion will help preserve the two last remaining structures that were part of a vibrant community destroyed by hate and paranoia,” Terry Hara, president of the Terminal Islanders Association and a retired Los Angeles police deputy chief, told the council during public comment. “It is an important story, an American story that needs to be told for generations to come.”
The council heard several descendants describe family ties to Terminal Island and the role of the Japanese American residents in creating the local tuna fishing industry. Paul Hiroshi Boyer, a board member of the Terminal Islanders Association and chair of a coalition to protect and rehabilitate the buildings, said his mother was born on Terminal Island in 1919 and urged preservation “to significantly honor the legacy of the Terminal Island Japanese American community.”
Andrew Salimian, representing the Los Angeles Conservancy, called the two buildings “a testament to the survival of a people” and said the Conservancy supports designation of the structures as Historic‑Cultural Monuments (HCMs).
Councilmember McOsker said the city should acknowledge the history on the 83rd anniversary of Executive Order 9066 and described the removal and demolition of the village as a grave injustice. Councilmembers Rodriguez and Raman also spoke in support and thanked the Terminal Islanders for their advocacy.
The council recorded the vote on the item as approved (12 ayes). Council staff clarified that public comment for the item had been taken earlier in the meeting and satisfied the public‑comment requirement for the action.
What the designation means next was not specified in the meeting discussion; councilmembers and speakers framed the vote as an act of recognition and a step toward preserving the buildings for interpretive or adaptive reuse work advocated by community groups.
The designation follows years of advocacy by Terminal Island descendants and preservation partners who said the structures are among the last physical remnants of the neighborhood sometimes known historically as East San Pedro or Fish Harbor.
