LOOKING BACK

Young Chang

It took awhile to figure out who the first mayor of Newport Beach was,

but after some discussion with Susie Lamb from the Newport Beach Central

Library (and after Lamb had discussions with her own reference staff,)

we’ve concluded that the name is Marcus J. Johnson.

He served from 1928 through 1931. He is little-remembered throughout

the city -- probably because it’s been a good 70 years or so -- and local

historians admit to knowing his name, his title and virtually nothing

about his personality.

Some even debate whether he was the first mayor, which is

understandable considering the Pilot and the city’s library staffers did

the same. But after wrestling with logistics, here’s why we’ve decided

Johnson’s our first guy.

Until the late 1920s, Newport Beach was run by a government system

involving elected presidents and staffers named to a Board of Trustees.

So technically, the first mayor figurehead could be John King, the first

board president to enter office after the city was incorporated in 1906.

But we’ve decided to trust the facts in Jim Felton’s history “Newport

Beach: The First Century, 1888-1988.”

The predecessor to this book, also by Felton and titled “Newport Beach

75: 1906-1981,” tells us that Johnson was the first leader named mayor

and his council of Paul Ellsworth, Herman Hiller and Lloyd Clare swooped

in and replaced a team of younger men known throughout the city to be on

a power-hungry mission.

It’s a long story, involving matters regarding the city’s jetties and

conflicts between then-city engineer Paul Kreisler and a retired engineer

named Lance Sherman who had it out for the administration.

But Johnson’s council stepped in during the Great Depression, which

proved a difficult time for both families and government bodies.

Newport Beach had few industries then, making most of its money during

summer months because visitors enjoyed the city as a resort town.

The Johnson family’s boat-building business was one of the few that

jump-started the industry. Marcus Johnson, from Seattle, and his father

Gus, who moved to Newport Beach from the Pacific Northwest, founded G.V.

Johnson Boat Works in 1921.

Gus Johnson originally started the business on a barge and moved

ashore a year later to the corner of 20th Street and Bay Front.

Other boat companies followed, including Newport Beach Boat Works,

which grossed an annual payroll of $80,000 by 1930.

Marcus Johnson was elected again as mayor in 1930, before being

succeeded by Dr. Hermann Hiller in 1932.

* Do you know of a person, place or event that deserves a historical

Look Back? Let us know. Contact Young Chang by fax at (949) 646-4170;

e-mail at young.chang@latimes.com; or mail her at c/o Daily Pilot, 330 W.

Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627.