WORKING IN LONG BEACH
The Police Department
The Police Department
Wikipedia tells us “the Long Beach Police Department was founded, January 30, 1888, on the day that twenty-four-year-old Horatio Davies was elected as the city’s first city marshal. From January 1888 to January 1908, the city elected eight different men to serve as city marshal until the city council adopted Ordinance Number 3, New Series, doing away with the office of city marshal and allowing for the appointment of a chief of police. Thomas W. Williams was the first Long Beach chief of police.”
If your ancestor served in the LBPD, you might find him pictured or mentioned in the following online resources:
Long Beach Police Historical Society
Click the “about” tab on the home page and explore sections of the website. The online photo gallery has old pictures, one of mounted patrolman Thomas Borden taken in 1906 and another of Curly Lancaster on a motorbike in 1915. The Tin Star Intelligencer is the monthly journal of the LBPHS, and 53 issues from 2009 to 2013 are posted in pdf format on the website. They contain historical information, old photos of Long Beach city marshals, police chiefs, and patrolmen, as well as pictures of historic documents.
Long Beach Mounted Police
A great panorama photograph from 1948 is posted on this website.
Long Beach Public Library
Long Beach History
Photos from the Long Beach History Collection are in the LBPL Digital Archive. Go to http://encore.lbpl.org/iii/cpro/app, click on the “Long Beach Photos” selection, and type “police” in the search box. This will bring up historic photos of Long Beach police chiefs and police activities.
You might also find a mention of your ancestor in the book Historic Police Department Long Beach, Califoria, by Russell R. Bradford. This book is available for purchase at Amazon.
RESEARCH TIP: The Long Beach Police Historical Society newsletters cited above are one example of a “deep resource” that Google does not index. Wherever your research takes you, don’t overlook newsletters posted by historical, genealogical, and occupational societies in the area. They may contain the information you are seeking!
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