Historic Newport

On this day on September 7, 1963, ‘The Balboa Island Punting and Sculling Society’ (a group of ‘millionaire’s and bums’), made the world’s first and only “train trip” to Catalina Island. They left Long Beach Harbor on a barge — pulled by a tug boat, and arrived in Avalon that afternoon. Consisting of one 1914 Parlor Car with 72 passengers, the …

This rare photo is of the ferry called “The Islander” and was taken around 1915.   It was the second Balboa Ferry, whose service was taken over by Joseph Beek in 1919.  Beek who was one of the most influential early residents of the Balboa area.  He took the boat which was essentially a wrecked and abandoned hull, and repaired it on …

As we have had more rain so far this month than the last 103 Julys combined, I thought it would be a good time to show some photographs of the flooding in prior years. Remember this El Nino year is actually heating up to a big degree (more to come on that) and you should start planning on how to deal …

It seems like parking has always been a problem down by Balboa Pier!   4th of July in the 1920s      

This is the oldest throwback photo of Newport that I know of.  It is actually a scan of the topographical maps before flight was even possible– back in the 1800s.  This was before the Balboa Peninsula was even formed, and our bay was unrecognizable compared to its current form. Collins saw the potential with Newport and created the peninsula using …

Did you know that an ocean cyclone touched down right here in SoCal? In 1939– an El Nino year– a hurricane-turned-tropical-storm touched down in Long Beach, sending waves throughout Southern California so strong that it actually destroyed the Newport Pier, washing away an entire 500 foot stretch of the 1050 ft structure. Cool fact: Handrails were added sometime in the 1980s– pretty recent! …

Today is Shirley Temple’s birthday.  As the story goes, Shirley Temple was first a local star of Balboa, being named the first “Miss Newport Beach” at the age of 13. The house she used to live in on Balboa Peninsula was in Peninsula Point near M Street, just past the Bartholomew house, at the closest point to the Coast Guard Beach (right …

El Ranchito is offering its original menu prices on three items today and next Thursday to wrap up their 40th birthday celebration!  The original location has always been right here on Balboa Peninsula on the corner of Balboa Blvd and 28th St. Originally, it was just on the sidestreet  (pictured as the main photo here), where the traditional “Irish Fish Market” …

This Throwback Thursday has a place to visit!  Jump in to get some awesome food at a discount, and grab some 40th year anniversary memorabilia while you are at it!  The staff is doubled-up on this day and is able to quickly seat people who visit.  When I visited last Thursday with a co-worker, we immediately found seats at the bar …

How’s this for a Throwback Thursday? Every Thursday for the month of April, beginning on April 2nd, El Ranchito on the Balboa Peninsula will be serving up their historic lunch and dinner menus with their prices from when they opened in 1975– 40 years ago. This special deal and 40th birthday celebration only applies to the Balboa Peninsula location (they have 11 …