Top 10 Stories of the Century

We’ve come a long way in 100 years.

The 20th century was when the cities of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa were

born, transformed from rocky shorelines and cattle grazing land to

booming residential and retail communities.

There were many events that shaped this century, but none so clearly

defined our community as these 10. Here are our choices for the top

stories of the 20th century.

1. NEWPORT HARBOR DREDGED. The extent to which Newport Harbor was dredged

came to define the city of Newport Beach as a destination for the rich,

the famous and those looking for the “good life.” It would also ensure

that the harbor would remain for pleasure only, rather than becoming an

industrial or commercial port -- the vision of Newport’s early settlers.

Businessman James McFadden had his sights on Newport Harbor as an

industrial port since arriving here in the 1800s. But his vision never

materialized, and he eventually sold off his lands, including the harbor.

In the 1920s a group of Newport Beach residents, the Harbor Boosters,

were busy raising funds to create a commercial harbor. But by the early

1930s, it was decided that a commercial port was too lofty an

expectation, and the harbor remain for recreation only.

In 1934, after a grant from the U.S. government, the dredging was on its

way to completion.

With the sandbars gone, watercraft of all sizes could get in and out of

the harbor, and soon sailors and yachters from all over world stopped by

to get a taste of Newport Beach.

Today it has become the largest pleasure harbor in the nation, docking

more than 9,000 watercraft and creating millions of dollars in tourism

for the city every year.

2. JOSEPH BEEK AND BALBOA ISLAND. If not for Joseph A. Beek, Newport

Beach might look a lot different today.

In 1919, other city leaders toyed with the idea of letting Balboa Island

sink back into the bay. But Beek saw a bright future for the little

island. All it needed, he insisted, were some quick improvements and an

even quicker way to get people to and from the mainland.

So Beek took over the more than decade-old ferry service, which was known

for being irregular, if not unreliable, and brought to completion plans

to build a bridge to the island. The ferry’s first boat was called the

Ark. The cost: just 10 cents.

Beek’s work and effort saved the foundering area. Beek, himself, built a

home on the island right next to the ferry’s landing. The Beek family

continues to run the ferry, which now employs about 45 crew members --

most of them part-time summer workers.

The island is still one of Newport Beach’s greatest tourist attractions,

and even in the wee hours of a weekday morning, folks can be seen

gathered outside the local coffeehouse or taking a brisk walk around the

island’s perimeter path.

3. TWO CITIES FORMED. Though it may be difficult to picture now, the

cities of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa were once rural settlements in a

vast, unincorporated land.

The push was for incorporation in Newport Beach was driven primarily by

local townspeople who felt that the Orange County Supervisors overseeing

Newport considered it simply a port for Santa Ana or a vacation spot for

families.

Albert Hermes successfully filed a petition and on Aug. 12, 1906, the

incorporation won by a vote of 42 to 12. City officials met at a variety

of places until an old school house on the oceanfront became the first

City Hall in 1912.

Costa Mesa wasn’t incorporated until 1953. In this case, the push for

incorporation was driven largely by a desire for local control over

development planning.

The Home Rule Group led the effort and many of its leaders became the

city’s first officials, including former postmaster Charles TeWinkle, who

was elected mayor.

The night of the election, locals gathered in the front lobby of the

Costa Mesa Globe-Herald newspaper to watch as the results were posted on

blackboards. The motion was passed by a close vote of 1,808 to 1,446.

4. SCHOOL DISTRICT UNIFIES. It was highly controversial. One atempt

failed. But eventually, two cities that were constantly at odds joined

forces to form one unified school district.

On Aug. 5, 1964 Costa Mesa Supt. Carl Boswell began the successful push,

sending a letter to Orange County asking that a unification proposal be

considered. Boswell argued it would be of the utmost benefit to all

concerned.

In March of 1965 the state Board of Education approved the merger. Later

that spring, voters from all three school districts, Costa Mesa Union,

Newport Beach City School District and Newport Harbor Union, gave it

their approval.

On Oct. 5, 1965 a unified board was elected. The original board was James

W. Peyton, Elizabeth M. Lilly, Marian Bergeson, Donald B. Duncan, Donald

A. Strauss, Earl G. Peterson and Roderick H. MacMillian.

Finally, on July 1, 1966, it became official. Three school districts

became one, creating the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

5. JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT. The plan to expand Orange County Airport from a

tiny, mostly general-aviation facility with only 14 flights a day to a

bustling, commercial airport was a glimmer in the county’s eye from as

early as the 1960s.

Residents unhappy with living under the flight path stalled the plans for

nearly 20 years. In 1979, county officials released a master plan for

expanding the airport to serve as many as 12 million annual passengers.

That idea, to say the least, didn’t fly with Newport Beach residents and

a political movement was born.

A judge agreed with the angry residents, ordering the county to complete

a full environmental study on the proposal. That report was done in 1981,

and until 1985, county officials negotiated with Newport Beach airport

activists to come up with a court-ordered settlement agreement.

The end result was a set of operating and noise restrictions that are

virtually unparalleled across the country.

Once the agreement was in place, the Board of Supervisors agreed to

rename the facility John Wayne Airport, ironic given reports that the

famous Newport Beach resident and actor was one of the heaviest

contributors to the fight against the airport.

Today, the airport is a major part of many lives in Newport-Mesa. Some

bless it for the travel convenience, while many others curse it as jets

roar over the Back Bay and Balboa Island communities.

It is also the impetus for the city’s extensive and expensive fight to

build a new airport at El Toro. Fearing an expansion when the settlement

agreement expires in 2005, city officials have vowed to do whatever it

takes to ensure air passenger demands can be met somewhere else.

6. THE UPPER BAY LAND SWAP. High-ranking officials at the time said

matter-of-factly that it wasn’t a question of whether Upper Newport Bay

should be developed, but who should develop it.

The thought of bulldozing or filling in the Back Bay estuary in favor of

residential development seems almost sacrilege today.

The reason? Frank and Frances Robinson, guardians of the bay.

Though the Westcliff residents were labeled “radical kooks,” called

“misguided” and were known as “the stupid engineer and his birdbrained

wife” by top officials at the time, they persevered in their belief that

a complex land-swap deal proposed by the Irvine Co. to create a marina

was wrong.

Beginning in 1969, with a group of other homeowners called Orange County

Foundation for the Preservation of Public Property, the couple fought the

Irvine Co., the county and the state -- even in the highest courts -- to

get the land-swap deal and marina plan scrapped. They argued that the bay

was part of a tidelands public trust that cannot be handed over to

developers.

After years of litigation, the plans were abandoned and, eventually, the

state agreed to set aside the 741-acre estuary as an ecological reserve.

Now, the area is visited by more than 1 million people each year and is

home to a diverse web of wildlife, including one-half of the state’s

population of the endangered light-footed clapper rail.

7. FASHION ISLAND AND SOUTH COAST PLAZA. They stand at either ends of

Newport-Mesa, like distant twin towers of commerce: South Coast Plaza and

Fashion Island.

The two retail centers -- which share world-class stores ranging from

Tiffany’s to Neiman Marcus and restaurants from the Hard Rock Cafe to the

Clubhouse, though not design philosophies -- were born together in the

late ‘60s, when there was enough idealism to imagine that both shopping

hubs could thrive just miles from each other.

In this case, idealism won out. Since South Coast opened on the Ides of

March, 1967, and Fashion Island followed months later, both have come to

define life in Newport-Mesa.

Today, South Coast Plaza is one of the world’s premiere shopping

destinations, with stores otherwise confined to 5th Avenue or Rodeo

Drive. It is at the center of the thriving South Coast Metro section of

Costa Mesa and is undergoing a $150-million renovation.

Fashion Island boasts 200 of its own shops and a collection of the

country’s best restaurants. It sits in Newport Center, a thriving

business and industrial area. A decade ago, it completed its own

$100-million expansion.

With the economy booming, both centers finished the ‘90s strong. These

towers aren’t going anywhere any time soon.

8. PERFORMING ARTS. It is the reason Costa Mesa is named “The City of the

Arts.” Two of the most reputable and well-attended cultural centers in

Southern California sprouted up in Costa Mesa in the late 1970s and early

1980s, putting the city on the performing arts map.

South Coast Repertory and the Orange County Performing Arts Center have

become the center of the South Coast Metro area, the destination for

those wanting great entertainment close to home.

Martin Benson and David Emmes, who mapped out their plans for a regional

theater on a napkin in a Long Beach restaurant back in 1964, got their

wish and more as the pair have seen South Coast Repertory through 35

years of wonderful community theater by some of the best playwrights

around.

The two-stage theater has garnered attention from the rest of the country

as well, winning a Tony Award for regional theater in 1988.

The Orange County Performing Arts Center started with a group of

residents -- specifically the Newport Harbor Foundation -- who felt a

need for a concert hall where the Philharmonic and other groups could

perform.

In February 1979, SCR trustee Elaine Redfield asked the Segerstrom

family, which had already donated the land for the theater, for an

adjacent site for the center. In May of that year, impressed by the

support group’s efforts, the Segerstrom family donated the land and put

up $1 million to get the project going.

On Sept. 29, 1986, the Orange County Performing Arts Center opened the

doors to Segerstrom Hall. The Center boasts one of the country’s more

innovative and technically advanced halls for the performing arts.

Together, the Center and Repertory are among the best of their kind.

9. ORANGE COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS. For the past half-century, the Orange

County Fair has made its home in Costa Mesa -- an at times dusty spot to

anchor the fun of the fair each year.

It all began in 1880, with a horse race and a few exhibits at the Santa

Ana race track. After decades of moving around the county, the fair

settled at the former Santa Ana Army Air Base in 1949.

The following year, Costa Mesa was recognized as the fair’s official host

city.

Since then, the fair has grown to more than two weeks, with

three-quarters of a million people walking through the turnstiles.

But the fair is not all the goes on at the fairgrounds. There’s

Centennial Farm, a three-acre replica of a working farm that has received

hundreds of thousands of school children over the years. And since the

early ‘80s, the Equestrian Center has been home to hundreds of horses.

On any other given weekend you might find a classic car show, the

familiar swap meet, the annual Youth Expo, an art sale, or even a

political rally (Bill Clinton visited once). With the fairgrounds,

there’s rarely a time when there’s nothing to do in Costa Mesa.

10. NEWPORT HARBOR CHRISTMAS BOAT PARADE. The bright glow of Japanese

lanterns against the dark water on Newport Bay set the tone for the first

Newport Beach Boat parade, which was presented by the Venetian gondolier

John Scarpa in 1908.

Scarpa’s parade was modest, with only eight lighted canoes and a single

gondola, but the glint of the colorful lanterns on the water captured the

imagination of the community, and a tradition was born.

Joseph Beek took over the direction of the parade through the 1920s,

dubbing it the the “Tournament of Lights.”

It wasn’t until 1946 that the parade evolved into its current form as a

Christmas-time attraction. A group of Newport Beach city employees

transformed a barge into a Christmas scene, complete with tree and

lights, and proceeded to take the boat around the bay, caroling as they

went.

In its 91st year, the parade takes place on a much larger scale than it

did in Scarpa’s day. More than 100 boats participate in the event, and

very few of them are canoes. The event, called one of the 10 best

yuletide affairs by the New York Times, is also a major tourist

spectacle, with about 1 million people attending or watching annually.