Port of Los Angeles

Port of Los Angeles

Conflict, Commerce, and the Fight for Control

by Geraldine Knatz

With years of research and more than 200 maps and images, Geraldine Knatz shapes an insightful story of the Port of Los Angeles, from its early entrepreneurs to the city’s business and political leadership, and the inevitable conflicts that arose between them. Knatz digs into the back stories of the key players in a hardcore, well-documented piece of storytelling at its best.


Port of Los Angeles matches a topic—the history of Los Angeles Harbor—with someone of unquestionable authority to tackle the subject. Knatz worked nearly four decades at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, her last eight years as Executive Director at Los Angeles. In this remarkable book, her expertise shows. Port of Los Angeles reads like a script for another Chinatown, only this time it's about saltwater and controlling the waterfront, not drinking water and controlling the land. Knatz takes readers on a journey that will educate and inspire, and fills these pages with real-life intrigue, masterminds, and politics extraordinaire.

Port of Los Angeles will leave the world's maritime aficionados spellbound and historians in awe. A must-read for anyone who treasures the history of Los Angeles.

      • 320 pages
      • full color throughout
      • 200+ images
      • 9w"x9h"
      • hardcover: ISBN 978-1-62640-071-9; $45.00
      • *** available from the author via Amazon ***

The Port of Los Angeles made this city. This very well might be "The Study" of what made modern Los Angeles.—William Deverell, Director, Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West

(Currently, Angel City Press has no available stock of this product.)