Neighborhoods - Community Profile

BOUNDARIES:

32ND Street – 10th Street

HISTORY:

James McFadden received title to the Peninsula in 1892 from 40th to 9th Street. His purchase was one dollar per acre as government swamp and overflow land. Town site was laid out near the wharf where lots were leased by the year.

In 1902 William Collins bought 981 acres from McFadden and put the price for oceanfront property between $150 and $300 a lot. In 1906 Pacific Electric Railway became influential in spreading the sandpit (Peninsula) fame as a summer recreation center and vacation retreat.

Those who bought property encouraged friends to settle nearby, and to those early settlers-many still represented by third and fourth generations. The Peninsula was and is Newport Beach.

McFadden Wharf and Newport Pier area is designated one of California’s historical landmarks. The Dory Fishermen have bee supplying fresh fish for sale in an open air market for nearly 100 years.

FEATURES:

Central Peninsula includes churches, hotels, shops, cafes and many styles of modeled, and new architecture – duplexes, condominiums, townhomes and oceanfront and bayfront estates. Las Arenas Park features public tennis courts and a children’s playground. Nearby is the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum. At 10th Street there is a public beach on the bay. Newport Elementary School on 13th Street is one of two schools in the country that can boast a location on the beach for over 50 years.