Timeline of Newport Beach History
1776 Franciscan fathers of San Juan Capistrano Mission
began administration of Newport Bay area.
1810 Spanish land grant of Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana
including the Newport mesa and western mainland shoreline
of Newport Bay) made to Jose Antonio Yorba and Juan Pablo
Peralta.
1842 Mexican land grant of Rancho San Joaquin (including
the Newport Upper Bay and most of the mainland shoreline
of lower bay) made to Jose Andres Sepulveda.
1860 First attempt by U.S. Coast Survey to make a preliminary
examination of the Santa Ana River estuary (lower bay).
1864 Newport Bay holdings of Joss Sepulveda are sold to Flint,
Bixby, and Irvine. James Irvine obtains partners’ interests in
1876.
1868 Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana partitioned, its holdings
bordering Newport Bay going to Flint, Bixby, and Irvine, and
to attorneys Andrew Classell and Albert B. Chapman.
1870 The steamer Vaquero enters Newport Bay; Newport Landing
established on the inner shores. "The name 'Newport' was
suggested by a Mrs. Perkins,' according to Ellen Lee.
1870 Vaquero is sold; little if any activity on Newport
Bay for three years.
1878 Steamer Newport sold to Pacific Coast Steamship Co.,
but continues on San Francisco-Newport run until 1889.
1887 Survey made by W.H.H. Benyuard of U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers to determine feasibility of U.S. government-
financed improvements to Newport Bay. Estimated cost: $1.2
million. Failing to get a federal appropriation for this
work, the McFaddens build an ocean wharf in the summer
and fall of 1888.
1889 McFadden brothers move their shipping business from
inside the bay to new "outside landing" on peninsula
oceanfront.
1891 Completion of the Santa Ana and Newport Railway.
Wharf damaged when outer 600 feet are washed away by
storm on Feb. 22, but repairs soon made.
1892 James McFadden receives title to peninsula from
40th St. to 9th St., purchased for a dollar an acre as
government swamp and overflow land. McFadden has town
site laid out near the wharf, where lots are leased by
the year.
1896 James McFadden buys marsh island in the bay (later
dredged) and filled to create Balboa, Lido, and Harbor
islands.
1899 Santa Ana and Newport Railroad and wharf sold to
the Southern Pacific.
1902 Remaining McFadden Newport Bay holdings sold to W.S.
Collins and A.C. Hanson.
1903- Establishment of subdivisions of W Newport, E
Newport, Bay Island,
1907 Balboa, Corona del Mar, Balboa Islands, and Port
Orange.
1904 Pacific Electric trolley lines reach Orange County,
first at Seal Beach.
1905 Pacific Electric Railroad reaches Newport in 1905,
connecting city by rail with Los Angeles - the start of
rapid transit.
1906 Pacific Electric rails extended to Balboa. Balboa
Pavilion completed at cost of $15,000. Newport Beach
becomes a city. Newport annexes Balboa. Balboa Ferry starts.
1921 Santa Ana River rechanneled from Newport Bay, to the
sea. Madam Larue, The Green Dragon, and Soto's curio shop
thrive in Balboa.
1907 West Newport canals dredged, creating Newport Island.
1908 Gondolier G. Scarpa launches idea for Tournament of
Lights.
1909 Famed actress and cosmopolite Madame Helena Modjeska
dies at her home on Bay Island.
1910 McFadden brothers sell Newport, Lido, and Balboa
Island for $35,000.
1911 Glenn Martin flies from Newport Bay to Catalina in
37 minutes setting longest over-water record in aviation
history Newport Harbor lines established, ratified by
Congress in 1917.
1914 County Hospital opens in Orange. Storm inundates
Newport.
1915 Bond issue brings 108 miles of good roads to county,
including Newport Beach.
1916 Balboa Island annexed to city of Newport Beach.
Flood inundates county when Santa Ana River and Santiago
Creek burst banks.
1917- Harbor work done by City Orange County, including
construction of
1917 Barge scene for silent movie spectacle, Cleopatra,
starring Theda Bara, filmed in Newport Harbor. Newporters
register for draft as war is declared on Germany.
1918 Spanish influenza hits county. 12 dead in one day at
Delhi.
1919 City of Newport Beach receives title to tidelands
adjacent to its boundaries. First Tournament of Lights.
1920 Santa Ana River rechanneled by building Bitter Point
dam.
1921 1,900-foot-long west jetty, construction of Bitter
Point Dam, diversion of Santa Ana River from bay, and
dredging of city and county channels. Cost to city:
$290,000; to county, $500,000.
1922 First Newport Yacht Regatta. Duke Kahanamoku introduces
surfboarding to the western United States at Newport Beach.
First sanitary sewers installed under supervision of Paul
Kressley, city engineer.
1923 Corona del Mar annexed to city of Newport Beach. The
Eddie Martin Airport opens, later to become Orange County
Airport, the nation's second busiest. Old McFadden area
cleaned up. First public restrooms built at McFadden place.
1924 General Lansing Beach, retired chief of the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, conducts survey and recommends
expenditure of $1.2 million for Newport Harbor improvements.
Eight drown at Newport when launch Adieu capsizes. Balboa
Yacht Club founded.
1925 Dr. Albert A. Michelson establishes speed of light
with mile-long experimental tube on Irvine Beach.
1926 County voters defeat bond issues to finance $1.2
million in Harbor improvements. Coast Highway opened by
Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford.
1927 City of Newport Beach votes $500,000 to extend west
jetty and build new east jetty. Metropolitan Water
District organized, eventually to bring Colorado River
water to Southern California. Typhoid epidemic hits area.
1928 Emergency dredging of harbor entrance by Citizens'
Harbor Committee. Rendezvous Ballroom opens at Balboa.
First Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii leaves Newport Bay.
1929 Beginning of the Great Depression. City of Newport
Beach votes $200,000 for harbor entrance dredging and
construction of rock groins. Academy Award winner "All
Quiet On The Western Front" is filmed above Corona del Mar.
1930 Lido Island dredging and filling completed.
1932 South of Newport Beach, the largest capture of
contraband whisky of Prohibition period occurs when the
ship Daylight is seized off Salt Creek in South Laguna.
1933 Federal government allocates $1.14 million and Orange
County voters endorse bond issue of $640,000 to finance
final harbor reclamation projects of 1934-35. Epic
earthquake causes $8 million in damages, takes 12 lives
in county; epicenter off Newport Beach. An indication
that there was human habitation in the area 15,000 to
18,000 years ago comes with the discovery in Laguna Beach
of the skull now known as 'Laguna Woman.'
1934 The Irvine Company salt works established at head
of Newport Back Bay.
1935 Newport Harbor dredged & jetties extended. First
'Flight of Snowbirds.” Howard Hughes sets new speed record
at Martin's Airport with 351 M.P.H. flight.
First Rendezvous Ballroom fire.
1936 Dedication of Newport Harbor; FDR opens the $4 million
harbor by telegraph key from Washington, D.C. Total
expenditure on Newport Harbor improvements by private,
city, county, and federal agencies between 1906 and 1936:
$3,956,800. Senate appropriates $13 million for Orange
County flood projects.
1938 Devastating storm pounds county and harbor leaving
119 dead, 68,400 acres flooded, 2,000 homeless.
1939 Mercury hits 108 degrees during eight-day heat wave,
brings droves to Newport Beach. High winds, riptides
destroy county piers; numerous drownings and small craft
losses in harbor.
1941 First blackout (Dec.10). MWD water arrives from
Colorado River. World War II is on, and Newport Beach
shipbuilders are destined to play an important role in
helping with the country's defense.
1942 Santa Ana Army Air Base opens along with Army Air
Force West Coast Training Center, attracting servicemen
to Newport Beach for rest and relaxation when time allows.
1943 El Toro Marine Base opens on 4,000 acres of Irvine
Ranch, attracting thousands of recruits to Orange County,
many of whom finally settled in Newport Beach. Lighter-
Than-Air Station south of Tustin gets 1,600 acres to
house blimps on coastal submarine patrol, making sure
the Pacific Coast - and Newport Beach - are safe from
Japanese invasion.
1944 Newport Beach businesses enjoy prosperity from the
patronage of military stationed nearby. New restaurants
and watering holes spring up to meet the demand.
1945 War ends, thank God.
1946 Santa Ana Army Air Base closes. Real estate begins
to boom.
1947 James Irvine, 80, dies in Montana. Sensational
Overell trial, longest in county history, results in
acquittal for Bud Gollum and Beulah Overell on charge of
dynamiting her parents to death aboard Newport yacht.
1948 First Newport-Ensenada Yacht Race. Big election,
new city government takes over. Balboa, Corona del Mar,
Balboa Island Improvement Associations start.
1950 A $500,000 gift from Hoag Foundation assures
construction of a hospital for Newport; flying saucers
reported over the city.
1951 Orange Coast YMCA organized; oil found on city
property.
1952 W.C. Collins, developer of Balboa Island, dies;
City Council votes to keep dogs off Balboa Island beaches;
king of Iraq visits the harbor; first baby is born at
Hoag Hospital.
1953 Newport Beach City Council bans poker parlors,
tables; 50,000 boys at international Boy Scout jamboree
held on Irvine land.
1954 Dora Hill elected as first woman mayor; new city
charter drafted.
1955 County takes over administration and operation of
harbor.
1956 Castaways restaurant landmark above Dover Dr. burns;
freeways proposed for Orange County; official city flower,
Barbara Karste Bougainvillea, is dedicated on Arbor Day.
1957 Influx of new residents causes prices of oceanfront
lots to rise to $15,000.
1958 Big industry comes to Newport when Hughes' semi-
conductor plant and Aeronutronics opens; Newport Dunes
opens with plans to rival Disneyland.
1959 Star class world championships are held; Newporter
Inn opens; Boy Scout house on Cliff Dr. is donated to the
city.
1960 U.S. destroyers collide off Newport, killing 11
men; 3-ton shark is netted by fishing boat; first high-
rise building appears - Vista del Lido apartments; snow
falls on the, harbor.
1961 Newport Harbor Art Museum opens.
1962 Pacific Electric trains along the ocean are used
for the last time to deliver boats to Newport.
1963 Official Newport Beach city flag adopted, designed
by 11-year-old Jeff Wilcox; Corona del Mar Chamber of
Commerce opposes 5th Avenue freeway; Mariners Library
dedicated.
1964 Reuben E. Lee floating restaurant opens; city
council passes "bed" tax for visitors of fewer than 15
days; aircraft carrier Bennington anchors at harbor
entrance for public visiting; Paddleboarder Larry
Capune becomes first Newporter Inn guest to register
at sea.
1965 A.J. McFadden places historical marker at McFadden
Newport) Pier; Prince Takahito Mikasa of Japan visits
harbor; UCI opens with 1,600 students; city council
okays horse corral at Irvine Coast Country Club.
1966 Citizens' group forms to fight airport expansion;
Bicycle trails master plan is proposed; West Newport
gets streetlights; Rendezvous Ballroom burns and is
demolished.
1967 West Newport Beach homes periled by storm surf;
emergency sand haul started; Fashion Island opens.
1968 Army Corps of Engineers begins construction of
rock groins along West Newport oceanfront.
1969 Western Salt Works in Back Bay demolished by floods;
Ensign newspaper wins top award in the nation for weekly
reporting.
1970 Police helicopter patrols begin; Balboa Ferry gets
historic plaque; Intrepid, with Skipper Bill Ficker,
wins America's Cup.
1971 Newport voters overwhelmingly reject freeway through
city, earthquake shakes homes and rattles nerves; Fun Zone
saved from becoming condominiums.
1972 Voters reject police facility and city hall at
Newport Center; City Council passes restrictive height
limit law; Newport Harbor High School band plays in the
Rose Parade.
1973 Orange County bus lines extend to Newport; Christmas
Festival of Lights canceled due to energy crisis.
1974 Police department moves to new facility in Newport
Center; South Coast Shipyard declared an historical
landmark.
1975 The largest fire in Newport history destroys a block
of commercial property on Mariner's Mile; fire department
adds paramedic unit; Upper Bay becomes a marine preserve
and wildlife refuge under the California Fish & Game
Department.
1976 Sheraton Hotel builds 300-room complex on Emkay
Development Company Tract on Birch Street, near orange
County Airport.
1977 Newport Harbor Art Museum moves into elegant, new,
21,000-square- foot home in Newport Center. Irvine Company
sold to consortium consisting of A.A. Taubman, Charles
Allen, Donald Bren, Henry Ford II, and Joan Irvine Smith.
Price: $337.4 million.
1978 Peter Kremer named president. South Coast Repertory
occupies new Fourth Step Theater complex in Segerstrom
South Coast center.
1979 O.W. "Dick" Richard dies. John Wayne dies. Orange
County Airport renamed John Wayne Airport.
1980 Slow-growth members of City Council - Paul Ryckoff
and Ray Williams - defeated by 3-to-I margin. Newport
Center Public Library opens.
1981 Balboa island bridge reconstructed. Master Plan for
John Wayne Orange County Airport approved.
1982 $15 million renovation and dredging of Upper Bay
through joint efforts of Newport Beach, Irvine, Tustin,
and state, county, and federal agencies.
1983 Donald Bren becomes sole owner of The Irvine Company.
1984 City Council incumbents Phil Maurer, John Cox, and
Ruthelyn Plummer easily reelected.
1985 Federal court approves John Wayne Orange County
Airport expansion plans and agreement with Newport Beach.
1986 Voters reject expansion and total build out plans
for Newport Center, in special election resulting from
referendum.
1987 Joan Irvine Smith's suit against Donald Bren and
The Irvine Company goes to trial. The Irvine Company
gives $10.5 million tract to Newport Harbor Art Museum
for new $50-million building at the corner of Coast
Highway and MacArthur Boulevard. Prominent builders
and community activists Jim Ray and T. Duncan Stewart die.
1988 Death claims prominent community leaders Dorothy
Hardcastle, A. Vincent Jorgensen, John Macnab, and
Ladislaw "Laddie" Reday. City Council sponsors history
of Newport Beach's 'First Century.'
1989 The Newport Beach Public Library Foundation is
incorporated.
1990 Development of the Newport Coast area begins.
1993 Military base closures announced by federal
government. El Toro Marine Corps Air Station makes the
list, sparking controversy about its potential reuse as
commercial airport.
1994 Dedication ceremony held for new Central Library.
County of Orange files for bankruptcy after identifying
$1.5 billion investment pool loss. Initiative designating
El Toro as future commercial airport passes.
1995 Orange County Board of Supervisors becomes the
reuse authority for the El Toro air station.
1996 Inaugural Newport Beach International Film Festival
held.
1999 El Toro base is closed.
2000 The Greenlight Initiative requiring voter approval
of major development projects passes in Newport Beach.
Countywide measure passes requiring approval of airport
and other large public works projects by two-thirds of
voters.
2001 County supervisors adopt plan to convert El Toro
into commercial airport. Opponents place initiative on
ballot to overturn earlier measure and rezone El Toro
as a park.
2002 Newport Coast and Santa Ana Heights annexation as
part of Newport Beach is completed. County voters
approve measure changing designation of El Toro from
future airport to park and other uses. FAA approves
agreement restricting noise levels and airport operating
hours at John Wayne Airport. State grant awarded for
the Donna & John Crean Mariners Branch Library.
2003 Newport Beach’s reputation as a high-end tourist
destination is given a boost by the opening of three
new luxury hotels, including the Balboa Bay Club Resort
and Spa.
2004 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers agrees to dispose
offshore 400,000 cubic yards of dredged Santa Ana River
sand in response to residents’ complaints about initial
plan that would have spread this sand on Newport’s
beaches. Cast members and producers of the Fox network
hit series “The OC” visit Newport Beach and are given
keys to the city.
Sources:
1776-1988 - James P. Felton. Newport Beach: The First
Century, 1888-1988. Newport Beach Historical Society,
1988. 1989-2004 - Compiled from various sources including
the Daily Pilot archives, ProQuest database (for articles
from the Los Angeles Times and Orange County Register),
County of Orange website at www.ocgov.com.
Courtesy of: http://www.beachhouse.com/8055.htm
and
http://www.city.newport-beach.ca.us/nbpl/AboutNBPL/newport_beach_time_line.htm
*Those that forget history are destined to repeat it! Hey,
we had the Newport Harbor Ensign before the Daily Pilot.
There is a lot more history to Newport Beach including the
Tricycle Races, the Train to Avalon, The Rosan Corporation,
The Salt Works in the back bay, the lowest tide in 60 years
back in 1961, the three week win of a City Council seat by
the Winships in 1994 and more..sometimes it is fun and many
times it is important....not to forget!
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