This beautiful mansion was built in 1864; it now has 24 rooms, although
there may have been 30 at one time. The building has been described as
"the finest extant example of Greek revival style in Southern California."Phineas Banning arrived in Los Angeles in 1851, virtually penniless; he established himself as the king of the region's transportation. He had a railroad, with freight lines extending throughout the Southwest, and a fleet of boats.
In 1858 he, along with B.D. Wilson, established the town of New San Pedro; this was renamed by the state legislature in 1863 after Banning's birthplace in Delaware.
Banning is often called the "father of the Los Angeles Harbor," although he died in 1885, at least ten years before the port was actually developed.
The mansion is set in a twenty acre park (Banning Park) at 401 E. "M" Street in Wilmington.