McFadden Square at Newport’s heart

It’s difficult to imagine the Balboa Peninsula being much more popular and crowded ? especially after the Fourth of July ? but try to imagine how the McFadden brothers would feel if they could see the area today.

Talk about surprised.

The entrepreneurial McFadden brothers, James and Robert, likely did not envision expensive waterfront homes, rows of seafood restaurants and tourist shops when they arrived in Newport Beach from Illinois in 1875 and bought the Newport Landing.

The brothers, looking for a business opportunity, bought the small wharf with the hope of transforming Newport Bay from a local port for exports into a bustling shipping center.

After connecting their wharf to Santa Ana via railroad tracks laid across undesirable swampy properties, the brothers completed the wharf in 1888. It quickly drew residents and small businesses into the area.

“McFadden Square ? that’s where the community of Newport actually began,” Newport Beach Mayor Don Webb said. “The McFadden brothers had at one time about 100 people [employed]; they were among the largest employers in the county at the time. And they had as many as 450-550 boats per year coming through the port.”

After the McFadden brothers gave up the battle between their own railroad line and the powerful Southern Pacific Railroad, almost all shipping in the area stopped, Webb said.

“The decrease [in business] greatly affected what was becoming a thriving community.”

That changed when the Pacific Electric Railroad, also known as the Red Car Line, was brought into Newport, opening the area up to tourist business as well as prospective residents.

Webb said the area was always best known as a commercial center.

“McFadden Square continued to be a business area up into [World War II], building ships and minesweepers,” he said.

In addition to boat-building, fishing has always been a major revenue-producing industry as well as a tourist attraction for McFadden Square.

“The Dory fishermen fleet began their operations in 1888 and have been in continuous business since then,” Webb said, adding, “They’re a lot of fun to watch, even today.”

Given the rich history of this still-cozy beach community, it’s appropriate that the Newport Beach Centennial celebration will be commemorated with a public work of art at McFadden Square.

Known as the McFadden Square Centennial Legacy Project, the initiative will recognize Newport Beach’s beginnings and the project’s donors. The plans were announced last week.

The planned work of art will feature a labyrinth path, at the center of which will be a large bronze sphere depicting natural scenes from around Newport Beach. The path itself will contain markers celebrating significant events in the city’s history.

Despite its failure as a shipping hub, McFadden Square has aged well and is an ever-popular destination for anyone who likes the beach.

“I hope that it always remains a focal point for residents to go to and say, “This is where our city began,’ ” Webb said.dpt.05-goodolddays-CPhotoInfoB11SJM6520060705ivfkz6knDON LEACH / DAILY PILOT(LA)Mayor Don Webb stands next to the McFadden Square historical landmark sign at the site of the original McFadden Wharf. The McFadden brothers, entrepreneurs from Illinois, were instrumental in the early workings of Newport Harbor.