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The Balboa Hotel (1905)
Located on the site where our Balboa Post Office stands today. Built in only 10 days to be ready for the arrival of the big Pacific Electric Red Cars, this two-story, single wall structure wasn't pretty, but it housed thousands of tourists throughout the years.
The Balboa Pavilion (1906)
The Balboa Pavilion is the unquestioned focal point of the Balboa Peninsula. Built as a Victorian bath house and terminal for the Pacific Electric Red Car. Fashionably dressed bathers arrived from the Greater Los Angeles area to spend the day at Balboa frolicking in the Bay. The Pavilion has been home to the big bands of the 30's & 40's, a bingo parlor, an amusement arcade, sports fishing, harbor cruises, the Catalina ferry service, a seafood restaurant, a shell museum, and the first home of the Newport Harbor Art Museum. Step inside and view the pictures depicting this colorful past. The Balboa Pavilion, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, is still the center for marine recreation in Newport Beach.
The Catalina Flight (1912)
Today a plaque at the foot of the Balboa Pier honors the memory of Glenn Martin, aviation pioneer, who, on May 10, 1912, flew from Balboa Bay to Avalon and back in a primitive hydroplane which he built in Santa Ana. The flight took 37 minutes and was the longest, fastest over-water flight ever recorded at that time.
The Balboa Ferry (1919)
The Balboa Ferry began as a skiff, "The Ark", powered by an outboard motor and carried oars ... just in case. Later the ferry graduated to a cumbersome craft, "The Fat Ferry", which could carry only one car. Founded by a Balboa Island pioneer, Joe Beek, the ferry, running between the Balboa peninsula and Balboa Island, remains in the Beek family. The sleek modern craft crossing the bay today has come a long way ... and, they each carry 3 autos as well as passengers.
The Balboa Fire Station (1927)
The Balboa Fire Station was for years the only governmental building in Balboa. While primarily a fire station, it did double-duty on Saturday nights as an impromptu holding cell for the numerous citizens arrested for over-consumption of alcohol during the rowdy days of Prohibition. Balboa was pure honky tonk in those days. Today the location of the Fire Station/Police Station is a parking lot adjacent to a public restroom... known at the time as a "comfort station."
The Rendezvous Ballroom (1928)
The Rendezvous Ballroom was Southern California's premier dance hall throughout the Swing Era of the 30's and 40's. All the "big bands" - Stan Kenton, Dorsey Brothers, Harry James, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman - played at the Rendezvous until 1966 when it succumbed to fire. Today a condominium building stands on the locale. A marker on the corner of Washington Street and Ocean Front commemorates the site.
The Balboa Inn (1929)
In its day, the Balboa Inn was the number one hostelry on the Orange County Coast. The Balboa Inn has been remodeled and modernized a number of times, but its graceful Spanish architecture remains virtually unchanged today. At one time, the Balboa Theater, operated by the colorful, hard-drinking, hard-swearing character Madame LaRue, stood next to the Balboa Inn. Our early photo of Main St. shows the theater on the far right.
Soto's (1935)
Soto's Japanese Curio Shop stood at the corner of Bay Avenue and Main Street. Soto's was headquarters for all the curious Balboa youngsters who pawed over his exotic merchandise. While Soto was one of the most loved men in Balboa, he fell victim to World War II hysteria and, with thousands of other loyal Japanese-Americans, was sent to an internment camp. He was sent to one of the worst, Poston, located on the Colorado River in Arizona. Soto never made it back to his beloved shop.
The Balboa Fun Zone (1936)
The Balboa Fun Zone was built on Abbott's Landing where Mr. Abbott brought soil from the mainland and planted the Peninsula's first trees. At one time the Fun Zone, a miniature amusement park, covered the entire block between Palm Street and Washington Street on the Bay Front. The ferris wheel and the merry-go-round remain, nostalgic memories from an era which provided pleasure to generations of visitors to Balboa.