The collection is comprised largely of collections from City of Long Beach staff including Port of Long Beach (Harbor Department) staff when the 1970s City Hall was vacated in 2019. The City Clerk, Planning Department, Port of Long Beach, and others culled their collections and contributed them to the HSLB before relocating to a newly constructed civic center. Included are the original Historic American Buildings Survey and documentation for the now demolished Roosevelt Navy Base and Shipyard complex and subsequent property reuse, aerial photography of the entire city, slide photography of the harbor area and Long Beach Redevelopment Agency project areas, Los Angeles River Dredging, Southeast Resource Recovery Facility, urban planning and redevelopment, infrastructure, subsidence, and more.

First incorporated in 1888, the City of Long Beach is the 42nd-most populated city in the United States. It is located in Los Angeles County on San Pedro Bay. It has an area of nearly 52 square miles. Long Beach is a charter city governed by nine council members elected by district, and a Mayor elected at large. Its population is among the most racially and ethnically diverse in the nation. The City has its own health, police, and fire departments along with municipal water, sewage, gas, sanitation, and animal care services. Its port is one of the busiest container ports in the country and one of the largest shipping ports in the world.

Approximately 60 linear ft.

All requests for permission to publish photographs or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Historical Society of Long Beach. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Historical Society of Long Beach as the owner of the physical items and does not include permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

The collection is open for research use.