Balboa Island, Newport Beach

[1] The community is surrounded by a paved concrete boardwalk open to pedestrian traffic, designated as a public walking trail by the city.

In September 1870, Captain Samuel S. Dunnells’ steamer Vaquero ventured into the bay to offload a cargo of lumber and shingles.

Captain Dunnells soon established “Newport Landing” by constructing a small wharf and warehouse near the west end of the present Coast Highway/Newport Bay Bridge.

[5] The McFadden brothers acquired the landing in 1875 and for the next 19 years operated a thriving commercial trade and shipping business.

The site was ideal because a submarine canyon (Newport Submarine Canyon - a favorite breeding ground for great white sharks), carved along with Newport Bay by the ancient Santa Ana River, provided calm waters close to the shore.

For the next eight years, the McFadden Wharf area was a booming commercial and shipping center and a company town began to grow.

[5] In 1902, James McFadden sold all of his Newport property, including the Newport townsite, about half the Balboa Peninsula, and the swamplands that were to become Harbor, Lido, and Balboa Islands (totaling about 900 acres (360 ha)) to William Stepp "WS" Collins (WS Collins was also president of the Associated Oil Company) and C. A. Hanson for an undisclosed amount, suspected to be $50,000 with $5,000 down.

In 1908 and 1909, with permission of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, Collins moved his small dredge to the eastern part of the Newport bay, a mud flat called "Snipe Island," and begin cutting a channel along the north side of the bay across from the Pavilion, piling the sand and silt up on the mud flat and thus Balboa Island was born.

Balboa isle owners struggled for years with poor roads, flimsy sidewalks, sewers that poured directly into the bay, and a wall so inadequate that homes were regularly flooded by high tides.

Before long, Collins had sold 700 Balboa Island lots, establishing it as one of Newport Harbor's favorite residential and recreational areas.

Beek played a crucial role in the development of Balboa Island, and spent a lifetime devoted to it.

That franchise has continued to this day, with three 64 ft (20 m) boats, named "Admiral," "Captain," and "Commodore," that can each carry three vehicles.

Roads to the Newport Harbor area were still largely undeveloped, and many people still arrived by rail to the peninsula and took the ferry over to the island.

Although the first bridge from the mainland to the island's North Bay Front was built in 1912, it was not capable of carrying automobiles until 1929, when it was refurbished.

Some of the wood from the old bridge was used to construct the building next to the "Jolly Roger" Restaurant (now Wilma's Patio) on Marine Avenue.

[10] Thousands of tents were pitched in the area accessible only by a muddy two-lane trail called Palisades Road.

[15][better source needed] Balboa Island's only bar, the Village Inn (or VI, as locals like to call it), has sat near the end of Marine Ave for more than 80 years.

In The Girl Most Likely, a 1958 RKO musical, the main character Dodie, played by Jane Powell, lives on Balboa Island and travels by ferry to her job on the mainland.

The sitcom Arrested Development is partially set on Balboa Island, where the family-owned frozen banana stand is located.

[19] In the Netflix series Dirty John the two main characters lease a waterfront property together on Balboa Island after dating for only five weeks.

In the indie game Raft, the player travels to Balboa Island to gather materials and weapons.