Wilmington Given Its Due in Harbor Dept. Brochure

The four-color brochure is slick, with a portrait of Phineas Banning at the top and the slogan “Wilmington--A Priceless Heritage.” At first glance, it looks like a promotion put out by a tourism council or travel agency.

But look closer: The tag line at the bottom says “Worldport LA.”

The pamphlet features the historical sites and history of Wilmington, from the mid-1800s--when Banning founded the Port of Los Angeles and established Wilmington, naming it after his hometown in Delaware--through the early 1900s, when Los Angeles annexed the community, along with San Pedro, to gain control of the port.

Such attention is more than just a nicety for Wilmington, where neighborhood leaders have long been pressing the Los Angeles Harbor Department to help spruce up their port-side community and to pay it as much attention as nearby San Pedro gets.

Residents and business people say publication of the brochure is a sign that port officials are serious about helping them create a more positive image for the area.

“It’s a major step forward,” said Ralph Chadwick, the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce president.

“It’s getting the message out about Wilmington,” said Simie Seaman, president of the Banning Park Neighborhood Assn. “Wilmington has so much history. Even a lot of the people in the community are very unaware of it.”

Seaman was among a group of residents who complained earlier this year that the port’s promotional literature focused heavily on San Pedro while excluding Wilmington.

Port spokeswoman Julia Nagano said the pamphlet is part of a new community outreach program designed, in part, to pay more attention to Wilmington’s problems.

“This is an attempt on our part to recognize that there is a need for the broader community to be aware of the contributions that Wilmington has made,” Nagano said.

About 10,000 of the pamphlets were printed, but Nagano did not know the cost.

The pamphlet is being distributed by residents and organizations. “The chamber’s giving them out,” said Chadwick. “The Rotary Club is giving them out. Everybody that I can think of is passing them out.”

Among those passing out the pamphlet is Bill Schwab, a longtime Wilmington resident who worked with port officials to put it together.

Wednesday morning, Schwab dropped off a stack in the lobby of a well-known spot in downtown San Pedro: the Harbor Department headquarters.