Walking through the museum, I saw a lot of paintings by local artist and other artwork, such as wood carvings and brass statues. There are also lots of models of different kinds of ships, boats and other nautical vessels, from the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria that Christopher Columbus used to cross the Atlantic, to ancient Roman ships and dugout canoes that were actually used for long distance travel by ancient South Pacific Islanders. The paintings really caught my attention though. They really capture the beauty that you normally don't notice, even if you live near the ocean. There are paintings of San Pedro fishing boats and the Vincent Thomas Bridge. These paintings caught my attention because of the colors that were used and the attention to detail they showed. Some of the paintings looked like actual photographs.

The newest exhibit at the museum is called, “what's in name?” The exhibit explores the ship-naming practices in the U.S. Navy. It was very interesting. Up until I saw this exhibit, I didn't know that the Secretary of the Navy was responsible for naming each and every new vessel in the fleet. In the early 20th century the Navy came up with a system where each vessel had a naming scheme.

The Secretary of the Navy chooses ship names from a list of geographical places, famous individuals, animals and other things. For some names, there is a rhyme and reason. The submarines are named for fish and the ammunition ships for volcanoes. For others, the connection is a little more obscure and sometimes non-existent. The most heavily armed vessels, or battleships, are given state names. The cruisers, those fast, maneuverable warships lacking the firepower that the battleships have, are named for large cities. The exhibit shows pictures from different types of naval ships and information on who or what they were named after.

Another exhibit that caught my eye was called, “Caught, Canned and Eaten.” Ms. Ruth was telling me that this fishing and cannery exhibit was the result of several years of community outreach by museum staff and volunteers. They had researched and interviewed former fishermen and cannery workers in order to preserve their memories and artifacts for future generations to study and learn from. Last December, this exhibit that they worked so hard for get for so long was finally introduced as a permanent exhibit in the museum. This exhibit was put in place to honor the generations of local residents whose life's work made Los Angeles harbor the nation's top fishing port.

San Pedro has had a huge impact on the world of commercial fishing. For example, one of the first significant efforts to begin commercial fishing off the coast of Peru was undertaken by the French Sardine company of San Pedro in 1939. Ms. Ruth also told me that in late 1969, the Los Angeles Harbor Mackerel fleet completely suspended operations because of a state health department finding of high amounts of DDT in the fish. She said her husband worked for a commercial fishing company back then, and he was out of work for months because of this.

The museum will be hosting a Smithsonian exhibit on June 21, 2007 in recognition of the 200th anniversary of the Coast Survey. The exhibit will be on view there from June 22-July 21. I will definitely be returning to see that.

Overall, I learned a lot from my visit to the museum. I had a great time talking with Ms. Ruth and I enjoyed learning about the place I live. It was a little sad that I was the only one there; I wish more people would go and learn about how this area has developed over the last 200 years and how it is still constantly changing. In another 50 years, there is no telling what its going to look like? There might not be any ships left, there might not be any water, and maybe all of Los Angeles will be underwater. If everyone knew how much hard work and dedication it has taken the local residents to get the harbor and the surrounding cities of San Pedro, Wilmington and Long beach to where they are now, maybe they would think twice about throwing trash on the ground, or tagging on wall. Maybe everyone would take a little more pride in their town and harbor, and treat it like their home.