Piers of yesteryear

June Casagrande

It was the 1930s. Newport Harbor High School had just been dedicated,

the biggest employer in town was the Western Canners Co., and the

city and the harbor were still young.

In a classic 1930s style, each of the city’s public docks was

adorned with finials -- decorative tops to the two posts at the end

of each pier. The blue finials, carved out of solid oak, were an

expression of style as well as a helpful reference for boaters who

needed to know whether the piers they were approaching were public or

private.

One by one, the finials succumbed to time and the elements -- dry

rot, general decay -- leaving the city’s 10 public piers without

their splash of yesteryear. But now, all that has changed.

The city has just completed a project to install the classic-style

finials on each of its municipal docks. The blue posts were made to

the exact specifications of the original 1930s designs, said Chris

Miller of the city’s Harbor Resources Division. The Harbor Commission

and the City Council voted to restore them last year. Using a

fiberglass mold of the original finials, the city has recreated the

exact look that adorned the bay in the finials’ heyday.

“The main reason is because they help boaters identify from the

water which docks are public,” Miller said.

Now there are two finials at the end of each of the city’s 10

public docks that are at the same time decorative, nostalgic and

utilitarian.