The first U.S. military presence in the Los Angeles area was the U.S. Navy frigate, Congressin 1846 (seen here at Rio De Janeiro, 1852). Courtesy of Naval History & Heritage Command.
Neither Spain nor Mexico established any military installations in the Los Angeles area. The first U.S. military base established in Los Angeles County was a temporary base at San Pedro established in 1846 by U.S. Navy Commodore Robert F. Stockton. Stockton landed there from the U.S. Frigate Congress with a force of U.S. Marines and naval personnel to capture San Pedro and then Los Angeles. Stockton did not then find San Pedro an ideal port for naval vessels.
| Installation | Location | Service Branch | Established | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Moore 1 | Los Angeles | U.S. Army | 1847 | Closed 1848 |
| Army Quartermaster Depot, Los Angeles 2 | Los Angeles | U.S. Army | xxx | Closed 1861 |
| Camp Fitzgerald 3 | Los Angeles | U.S. Army | 1861 | Closed 1861 |
| Camp Lantham 4 | Culver City | U.S. Army | 1861 | Closed 1862 |
| Camp Kellogg 5 | Culver City | U.S. Army | 1862 | Closed 1862 |
| Drum Barracks 6 | Wilmington | U.S. Army | 1862 | Closed 1871 |
| Camp New Carleton 7 | Near El Monte | U.S. Army | 1862 | Closed 1865 |
| Fort MacArthur 8 | San Pedro | U.S. Army/ Air Force | 1914 | Operating2 |
| Submarine Base, San Pedro 9 | San Pedro | U.S. Navy | 1917 | Closed 1929 |
| San Clemente Island Naval Test Site 10 | San Clemente Island | U.S. Navy | 1934 | Operating |
| Edwards Air Force Base 11 | Los Angeles & Kern Counties | U.S. Air Force | 1938 * | Operating |
| Naval Air Station San Pedro (Reeves Field) 12 | San Pedro (Terminal Island) | U.S. Navy | 1938 | Closed 1947 |
| Long Beach Naval Shipyard 13 | Long Beach (Terminal Island) | U.S. Navy | 1940 | Closed 1997 |
| Long Beach Naval Station 14 | Long Beach (Terminal Island) | U.S. Navy | 1941 | Closed 1997 |
| Naval Hospital, Long Beach 15 | Long Beach | U.S. Navy | 1967 | Closed 1994 |
| Los Angeles Air Force Base 16 | El Segundo | U.S. Air Force | 1962 | Operating |
* Expanded from Kern County into Los Angeles County during 1940s.
(1) First established as a rudimentary fortification in 1846 by U.S. Marines and Californian volunteers trying to fend off Mexican resistance. Later a permanent fortification constructed by the 1st U.S. Dragoons and the Morman Battalion. Site of first American Independence Day celebration in California on July 4, 1847. Construction was never completed. Named for U.S. Army Captain Benjamin D. Moore, who was killed on December 6, 1846, with 21 other Americans at the Battle of San Pasqual in San Diego County.
(2) Served simply as a storage facility for a stock of military arms, ammunition and supplies. It was manned by a single army officer. At the start of the American Civil War, the stocks were turned over to army forces deployed into the area.
(3) A temporary series of camps established by the 1st Regiment of U.S. Dragoons upon deployment into the Los Angeles at the start of the American Civil War to quell local secessionist actions. Named for Brevet Major Edward H. Fitzgerald, 1st U.S. Dragoons, who died in 1860.
(4) Army camp established to more permanently garrison the 1st Regiment of U.S. Dragoons and 4th California Infantry Regiment (volunteers). First headquarters for U.S. Army in Southern California and the Territory of Arizona. Named for U.S. Senator Milton S. Latham and former California governor.
(5) Army camp established to garrison the 5th California Infantry Regiment (volunteers). Named for Colonel John Kellogg, regimental commander.
(6) Headquarters of U.S. Army in Southern California and the Territory of Arizona during the American Civil War. At peak, garrisoned 7,000 troops as a Union military presence amidst significant Confederacy sympathies in California. Named for Lt. Col. Richard Coulter Drum, Adjutant General of the Department of the Pacific in San Francisco.
(7) Army camp established to garrison 1st California Cavalry re-deployed from San Bernandino due to flooding at "Old" Camp Carleton. Troops there policed pro-Confederacy activities in Easter Los Angeles County and San Bernardino County. Named for Major James Henry Carleton, 1st U.S. Dragoons.
(8) Established as an Army mustering and training center during World War I and later for coastal defense artillery, followed by anti-aircraft missile units. In 1982, it was transferred to the U.S. Air Force for administration and housing. It was named for Spanish-American War commander Lt. General Arthur MacArthur, father of WWII General of the Army Douglas MacArthur.
(9) After submarines and tenders had operated from temporary facilities at San Pedro wharfs since 1913, a permanent base was established in 1917 as the first U.S. submarine base on the West Coast, complete with a submarine training school. Surface ships also operated from the base during the 1920s.
(10) Established for ship-to-shore artillery training and later, during World War II, for amphibious landing training. Currently includes live-fire and missile test ranges, an auxiliary naval airfield and Navy SEAL training facilities.
(11) Established as a bombing range and later as a test and research center for high-performance aircraft. Also served as the landing site for NASA space shuttles. First named Muroc Air Force Base, it was later renamed for U.S. Air Force Captain Glen W. Edwards, killed when a YB-49 "Flying Wing" he piloted crashed on June 5, 1948.
(12) Served as an air facility for retrofitting naval surveillance aircraft and aerial coastal patrol.
(13) Served as dry docks for overhaul and maintenance of naval surface vessels. Featured "Herman the German," transferred to Long Beach after capture from Germany in War World War II and one of the largest floating cranes during much of its time.
(14) Adjacent to the Naval Shipyard and originally named Roosevelt Base (for President Franklin D. Roosevelt), it served as a logistical and home base for naval vessels (including the battleships). Housing complexes for military families were also operated in Palos Verdes and San Pedro.
(15) Served as a key medical center for personnel medically evacuated from the Pacific.
(16) Headquarters of Space and Missile Systems Center of the U.S. Air Force Space Command.
Los Angeles Air Force Base is currently the only active duty military installation in Los Angeles County.
After an trying out camels for several years at Fort Tejon in Kern County, the U.S. Army gave up their experiment. The Army turned over 31 of the beasts to a Captain Hancock in Los Angeles in 1861 after which there is no further record. Thus ended the U.S. Army Camel Corps.
Also see: Civil War Camps & Barracks in Los Angeles County
