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| Founding Citizens of Long Ago |
The dramatic coastline of Newport Beach and its proximity to the water
have always played a great part in the development of the City. The
City's first inhabitants thousands of years ago were the Shoshone
Indians who lived along the Pacific coast, supported by the abundance of
the seas and fertile land.
In the mid 1700's, the Spanish aristocrat and military leader Gasper de
Portola led an exposition to claim California frontier land for Spain.
Portola enlisted the aid of Father Junipero Serra and numerous European
soldiers to explore previously unmapped territory.
Decades later in the 1800's, land holdings of the Capistrano Mission
were parceled out as Spanish and Mexican land grants to war heroes and
aristocratic families. Later, many Spanish and Mexican landowners were
forced to sell large tracts of their land. The most prominent
landowners of the area, Don Sepulveda and Don Bernardo Yorba, men whose
combined holdings comprised Newport Beach's upper bay and lower bay,
sold their tracts to American entrepreneurs by the names of Flint,
Bixby, Irvine and McFadden.
Santa Ana, Tustin and Orange became new farming communities for the
settlers who arrived by steamer and covered wagon. Not long after, hide
and tallow businesses emerged. The first stirring of commerce began
when in 1870, a small stern wheeler from San Diego named "The Vaquero"
made its first trip to a marshy lagoon to exchange lumber for hides,
tallow, livestock and gain. James McFadden and other ranch owners in
the Lower Bay decided from then on that the area should be called
"Newport."
In 1888 James McFadden changed the isolated settlement by building a
wharf that extended from the shallow bay of the peninsula to deeper
water where large steamers could dock. Shipping activity increased
dramatically, and in two years, Newport was known as a vibrant Southern
California shipping town.
Attracted by the activity, Pacific Electric Railroad established itself
in Newport in 1905, connecting the City of Los Angeles by rail. Rapid
transit brought camping families to the waterfront, and small hotels and
beach cottages sprang up to cater to the emerging tourist industry. At
about the same time, the McFadden brothers sold their holdings of
Peninsula land. West Newport, East Newport, Bay Island and Balboa
became vacation communities in the beach boom decade. In 1906 with a
population of 206 citizens, the scattered settlements were incorporated
as the City of Newport Beach. These early settlements soon filled in on
the Peninsula, West Newport, Balboa Island and Lido Isle, developing
from West to East.
Parts of Newport Heights and Corona del Mar were annexed soon after the
turn of the century. Between 1934 and 1936, the federal government and
the county undertook work around the harbor. They dredged the Lower
Bay, extended jetties, and created the present day contour of Newport
Beach.
In 1936, community members dedicated the City's main harbor, named
Newport Harbor. Just six years later, during World War II, the harbor
became a vital hub as naval ships were built and repaired in its coastal
waters. Newport Beach businesses flourished due in part to an influx of
new military personnel. At the end of the war, many service men and
women decided to stay, triggering a real estate boom in Newport Beach.
Seasonal rentals became year-round housing, and the City's identity as a
summer resort location began to change.
The Santa Ana freeway, built in the 1950's, brought even more citizens
to the City. During this time, housing development began to spread
northward from the waterfront to the hills and mesa areas. Industries
changed, as the fishing industry, once the backbone of Newport Beach's
economy, gradually declined to be replaced with vibrant new businesses
and commercial centers. By the 1970's, rapid urbanization led to the
building of shopping centers, hotels, high-scale restaurants, and many
new homes.
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