Old Whaling Station on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Old Whaling Station or Old Whaling Station Portuguese Bend was a
californiahistoricallandmarks.com 381
/ref> *''"O. 381 SITE OF OLD WHALING STATION – The whaling industry is said to have been started by Captain Clark in 1864. Captain Frank Anderson, a Portuguese, tried 2,166 barrels of whale oil at this station from 1874 to 1877. The station was abandoned because of a lack of fuel rather than vessels."
The Old Whaling Station or Old Whaling Station Portuguese Bend was a whaling
Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution.
It was practiced as an organized industry ...
station in California, built in 1869. The Old Whaling Station was designated a California Historic Landmark
A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance.
Criteria
Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...
(No.381) on Jan. 3, 1944. The Old Whaling Station at Portuguese Bend was located in what is now Portuguese Bend
The Portuguese Bend region is the largest area of natural vegetation remaining on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, in Los Angeles County, California.
Though once slated for development including the projected route of Crenshaw Boulevard, the area ...
in Rancho Palos Verdes, California
Rancho Palos Verdes (Spanish for "Green Sticks Ranch") is a coastal city located in Los Angeles County, California atop the bluffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, neighboring other cities in the Palos Verdes Hills, including Palos Verdes Estate ...
in Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
.
Portuguese Captain Frank Anderson processed 2,166 barrels of whale oil
Whale oil is oil obtained from the blubber of whales. Whale oil from the bowhead whale was sometimes known as train oil, which comes from the Dutch word ''traan'' ("tears, tear" or "drop").
Sperm oil, a special kind of oil obtained from the ...
at this Historic Landmark from 1874 to 1877. In 1877 the station was abandoned. The whale stations had large kettles for rendering whale blubber
Blubber is a thick layer of vascularized adipose tissue under the skin of all cetaceans, pinnipeds, penguins, and sirenians.
Description
Lipid-rich, collagen fiber-laced blubber comprises the hypodermis and covers the whole body, except for pa ...
into Whale oil, called tryworks. California's migrating whales were hunted in small boats from the station. Gray whale
The gray whale (''Eschrichtius robustus''), also known as the grey whale,Britannica Micro.: v. IV, p. 693. gray back whale, Pacific gray whale, Korean gray whale, or California gray whale, is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and bree ...
s, as large as 36 tonnes, was the normal target. Hunting Gray whales in small boats was a very dangerous occupation, as many hunters were killed or injured. John Brown Whaling Company also operated at Portuguese Bend, starting in 1869. The last hunt was in 1885 due to the lack of the over hunted whales. Captain Joseph Clark is believed to have started the whaling industry in 1864. Gray whales were given protection from commercial hunting in 1949 by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and are no longer hunted on a large scale.
Los Angeles had a real estate boom in 1887. At this time Portuguese Bend was studied to see if a harbor could feasibly be built there. Pioneers of Orange County, J.K. Tuffree "Colonel John Tuffree" (1842–1903) made plans for a harbor, town, and railroad service to Portuguese Bend. He gave the planned harbor the name “Port Carolina,” after his wife Carolina (Polhemus)Tuffree. The real estate boom ended before he could start building.
Marker
Marker on the site reads:/ref> *''"O. 381 SITE OF OLD WHALING STATION – The whaling industry is said to have been started by Captain Clark in 1864. Captain Frank Anderson, a Portuguese, tried 2,166 barrels of whale oil at this station from 1874 to 1877. The station was abandoned because of a lack of fuel rather than vessels."
See also
*California Historical Landmarks in Los Angeles County
List table of the properties and districts — listed on the California Historical Landmarks in Los Angeles County, Southern California.
:*Note: ''Click the "Map of all coordinates" link to the right to view a Google map of all properties and di ...
*History of whaling
This article discusses the history of whaling from prehistoric times up to the commencement of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986. Whaling has been an important subsistence and economic activity ...
* History of Los Angeles
References
{{Greater Los Angeles Area California Historical Landmarks 1869 establishments in California Palos Verdes Peninsula Portuguese-American culture in California Whaling in the United States