Long Beach
From 1882 beach resort to 1921 oil boom to WWII aircraft manufacturing to 'Space Beach'—Long Beach reinvents while its port handles 31% of US container trade.
Long Beach has reinvented itself more times than most cities exist. Founded in 1882 as a seaside resort named for its 8.5-mile beach, it became an oil boomtown in 1921 when Signal Hill gushed black gold. Then World War II transformed it into an industrial powerhouse. And in the 2010s, it pivoted again—to space.
The port came first and stayed longest. Together with Los Angeles, the Port of Long Beach forms the West Coast's busiest container complex, handling 31% of U.S. containerized trade. A $1.5 billion rail yard expansion began in 2024 to triple on-dock rail capacity by 2032. This is infrastructure built for the long arc of Pacific trade.
Aerospace defined the mid-20th century. Douglas Aircraft, McDonnell Douglas, and Boeing successively manufactured military and commercial aircraft here—where Amelia Earhart fell in love with flying in 1920. But when Boeing closed its massive C-17 plant in 2015, Long Beach faced the familiar challenge of industrial transition.
The response was 'Space Beach.' Rocket Lab USA, SpinLaunch, Virgin Orbit (briefly), and now Vast are building satellites and spacecraft where cargo jets once assembled. True Anomaly announced a 90,000-square-foot plant at Long Beach Airport in 2025. Vast is fabricating what could be the first commercial space station in a former Boeing warehouse. The city's Economic Development Director calls aerospace 'the fastest-growing business sector'—an epicenter for space and beyond.
By 2026, Long Beach tests whether the same port infrastructure that handles containers can anchor a new orbital economy—and whether the skilled workforce from the aviation era can pivot to building spacecraft. The bet: what worked for Boeing can work for Rocket Lab.