| A pair of ocean oddities | |
|
They each extend regally into the ocean, but rarely draw much afterthought from the thousands of visitors and locals who pass by the Balboa and Newport piers during the summer months.
“They’re really geographic markers for the Newport neighborhoods,” Newport Beach historian and author Jim Fournier said. “For the Balboa Peninsula, the pier anchors the tourist areas like the Fun Zone. The Newport Pier is more of recognition of neighborhood. It signifies a community, a place where people are proud to live.” And just as the two piers hold different roles in their respective neighborhoods, they also share different histories. As local legend goes, Captain Samuel S. Dunnells established the Newport Pier along with the help of developers James and Robert McFadden. Once said to be too treacherous to travel, Dunnells defied the odds of Newport Bay by steering his 105-ton river steamer Vaquero through its waters in 1870. News of the inaugural voyage reached Northern California and the McFadden brothers soon rushed south via stagecoach to meet Dunnells. As the legend goes, the McFaddens and majority landowner James Irvine mused that Dunnells had discovered something, a “new port” in the region, and the name seemed to stick from there on. Now one of the most expensive places to live in Orange County, at the time of Dunnells’ discovery, the land barely attracted interest and the McFaddens and Irvine had trouble giving it away. Lots in the harbor, Balboa and Lido Islands were being sold for $1 an acre as “swamp and overflow land,” according to documents at the Newport Beach Historical Society. The McFaddens saw more potential in the area and in 1888, decided to set up their shipping business on the inner shores of the bay to the oceanfront, eventually constructing the giant pier two years later, one that was rebuilt several times after storms and wave damage. The Balboa Pier was first built in 1906 by landowner J.P. Greeley and the Newport Bay Investment Co., just as Newport Beach residents voted to incorporate. Made partly as an attraction to the nearby Balboa Pavilion, the pier also served as a stop on the Red Car Line, taking visitors on a beautiful coast ride from the peninsula to Main Street in Huntington Beach. Just as each pier enjoys its own personalities and histories, each also boasts its own oddities. The Balboa Pier is believed to be the first pier in Orange County to host a restaurant, and was said to be the shortest-lived pier in Southern California - it was practically washed away in 1922 after a record storm bashed into the Orange Coast and has been rebuilt several times. According to local fishing expert Ken Jones, the largest fish ever caught from a pier was at the Newport Pier. In 1937, a 27-year-old New Jersey man reeled in a 435-pound black sea bass during what was an otherwise slow day of fishing. Both piers continue to capture the imagination of long-time residents and weekend visitors. “I’ve heard stories of people getting wedding proposals on the pier, announcing pregnancies on the pier, even calling their bosses and quitting their jobs because something about the pier inspired them to move out west,” said Sandra Guttos, who sells pizza at a small diner near the Balboa Pier. “I don’t think people plan these things in advance. They just get out on the pier and decide it would be a great idea to either pop the question or make a spontaneous life changing decision.”Newport Beach regular Jake Firebaugh said it’s the unofficial history of the pier that keeps things interesting. “On any given weekend, you’re going to have a number of characters running around down here, watching surfers or trying to reel in the next big one.” he said. “I don’t think there’s any one event they’re going to remember. No, I just think they look back and say ‘I spent this part of my life hanging out at the pier, and what a great time it was.’” |
|
 |
|
