The city of Los Angeles remained within its original 30 square-mile area until the 1890s. The earliest significant additions to the city were the districts of Highland Park and Garvanza to the north, and the South Los Angeles area. In 1906, the approval of the Port of Los Angeles and an adjustment in state law allowed the city to annex the Harbor Gateway, a narrow strip of land going from Los Angeles towards the port. San Pedro and Wilmington were added in 1909, and the city of Hollywood was added in 1910, making the city 90 square miles. Also annexed that year were the cities of Colegrove and Cahuenga, as well as part of Los Feliz.
The opening of the Los Angeles Aqueduct gave the city with four times as much water as it required, and the offer of water service became a powerful lure for nearby communities. Los Angeles administrators locked in customers through annexation by refusing to supply other areas. By referendum of the residents, 170 square miles of the San Fernando Valley were annexed to the city in 1915, almost tripling its area. Over the next two decades dozens of new annexations brought the city's area to 450 square miles. Currently, it is approximately 470 square miles.
In World War II, Los Angeles developed as a center for production of war materials and ammunition. Thousands of African Americans and white Southerners relocated to the area to take factory jobs.
By the middle of the century, L.A. was an industrial and financial colossus created by war production and migration. The city made more automobiles than any city other than Detroit, made more tires than anywhere but Akron, and stitched more clothes than any location except New York. In addition, it was the national center for the production of films, radio broadcasts and TV shows. Building and construction boomed as tract houses were built in suburban areas financed by the FHA.
The city continued to expand, especially with the development of the San Fernando Valley and the building of the freeways launched in the 1940s. When the local streetcar system went bankrupt, L.A. became a locale entirely built around the automobile.
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