Wilmington is a neighborhood in the Harbor Region of Los Angeles, California, located in southern Los Angeles County between the Port of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Carson, and San Pedro. Its population of about 51,000 makes it one of the larger communities in the harbor area, and its identity is inseparable from the port and the industries that grew up around it. Wilmington is not an independent city — it was annexed by Los Angeles in 1909, when the growing harbor was brought inside the city limits — but it retains a distinct local character and history. The community was founded in the mid-19th century by Phineas Banning, a transportation and shipping entrepreneur known as the "father of the Port of Los Angeles." Banning's railroads and wharves made Wilmington Southern California's preeminent port for a time, and oil, shipping, and logistics have shaped its economy ever since. The neighborhood's history is preserved at sites such as the Drum Barracks Civil War Museum, the surviving remnant of a Union Army post, and the Banning Museum. In the 1920s, William Wrigley Jr. added the innovative "Court of Nations" housing development, an early chapter in the area's residential growth. Wilmington today is a working-class, predominantly Latino community with a dense suburban feel and a high share of renters. Much of its housing consists of mid-century tract homes, older single-family houses, and small apartment buildings. Employment is heavily tied to the port, logistics, and related industries, and the neighborhood's location along the I-110 Harbor Freeway places it within reach of Long Beach, San Pedro, and the wider Los Angeles basin. Education is provided by the Los Angeles Unified School District, with Banning High School — named for the community's founder — and the highly regarded Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy among its campuses. Wilmington's appeal lies in its relative attainability, its deep historical roots, and its central position in one of the world's busiest port complexes, though residents accept the industrial traffic and limited open space that come with that setting.