It is the 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of , as of The Port of Long Beach is the second busiest container port in the United States and is among the world's largest shipping ports. California State University, Long Beach , one of the largest universities in California by enrollment, is within the city.
Indigenous people have lived in coastal Southern California for over 10, years, and several successive cultures have inhabited the present-day area of Long Beach. By the 16th-century arrival of Spanish explorers, the dominant group was the Tongva , who had established at least three major settlements within the present-day city.
Tevaaxa'anga was an inland settlement near the Los Angeles River , while Ahwaanga and Povuu'nga were coastal villages. The boundary between the two ranchos ran through the center of Signal Hill on a southwest to northeast diagonal. By , what had been the major Tongva village of Puvunga was thoroughly depleted of villagers, most of whom were brought to Mission San Gabriel for conversion and as a labor force. Temple created a thriving cattle ranch and prospered, becoming the wealthiest man in Los Angeles County.
Both Temple and his ranch house played important local roles in the Mexican—American War. On an island in the San Pedro Bay , Mormon pioneers made an abortive attempt to establish a colony as part of Brigham Young 's plan to establish a continuous chain of settlements from the Pacific to Salt Lake.
Following the U. Three years later, Bixby bought into the property and would later form the Bixby Land Company. In the s, as many as 30, sheep were kept at the ranch and sheared twice yearly to provide wool for trade. Willmore , who subdivided it in hopes of creating a farm community, Willmore City. They changed the name of the community to Long Beach at that time. The City of Long Beach was officially incorporated in The town grew as a seaside resort with light agricultural uses.
