Balboa Island

Aerial view of Newport Bay with Balboa Island in the center left

Balboa Island is an artificial island and also a district of Newport Beach in the US state of California . It is located in Newport Bay , a bay with a connection to the Pacific Ocean . The island surrounded by the city was incorporated in 1916.

In addition to the main island, Balboa Island also consists of the smaller Little Balboa Island and Collins Island . The district can be reached in the north via a car bridge, in the south the Balboa Island Ferry runs through the bay to the Balboa Peninsula . The island has the postcode number 92662.

history

The island can look back on a varied history. In the late 1860s, Balboa Island was used as a repository for imported and exported goods. In September 1870, the storage and mooring options were expanded considerably. The fishmonger James McFadden bought the entire island in 1875. Since there was no connection to the mainland until then, McFadden and his brother started building the first connection to the mainland, which made Balboa Island the peninsula .

Balboa Island as seen from the air in 1921

Since 1891 there was a direct railway connection, which helped the pier now operated by McFadden to grow rapidly. In 1899, however, the government decided to generously expand the Port of Los Angeles . The economic consequences for Balboa Island were accordingly catastrophic, so that McFadden had to sell his pier as well as the railway line operated by him to the Southern Pacific Railroad . In 1902, McFadden sold a large part of the island as well as his other properties.

The town planning of Newport Beach was reorganized by 1907, from which, among other things, the current layout of the streets goes back. Between 1908 and 1909, entrepreneur William Collins began marketing land on the island. The price at the time for the building sites located directly on the water was between 350 and 750 US dollars . At this point in time, the island's infrastructure was far from complete, so development was rather slow. The first new bridge to the mainland was opened in 1912.

Balboa Island was incorporated into Newport Beach in 1916. Only two years later did the newly founded Balboa Island Improvement Association begin work on sewerage, power supply and road construction. Until 1920 there was only one street on the island, Park Avenue. In the same year the gas supply was put into operation. In 1919 it was decided to set up a permanent ferry connection with the Balboa Island Ferry , which began operating a year later. Today there are three 20 meter long ferries that can each transport up to three cars.

After the efforts of the Balboa Island Improvement Association , the construction sites slowly filled up in the 1920s. To protect Balboa Island, a wooden reinforcement, which has been made of concrete since 1929, was first drawn around the island. In the period after the Second World War , the district became a magnet for many famous people. The actor John Wayne owned a house and a boat here. Today, in addition to the ferry boats, there is also a modern reinforced concrete bridge to the island, which is accessible by cars.

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View from Balboa Island over Newport Bay .

population

Population development

In 2007 there were around 3,970 inhabitants on Balboa Island.

The United States Census 2000 counted 3,120 inhabitants in 2,167 households and 765 families on Balboa Island. The population density was 17,621 people per square kilometer. The number of residential units was 2,167. The population was 95.0% White , 0.4% African American , 0.3% Native American , 2.2% Asian , 0.1% Pacific Islander, and 1.2% non- American . Hispanics or Latinos were 3.2% of the population. The largest groups by ethnicity were: English 638 (20.4%), German 603 (19.3%) and Irish 563 (18.0%).

Children under the age of 18 lived in 9.9% of the 2,167 households, 35.8% were married couples, 5.9% had a female head of the household without a husband present and 55.9% did not form a family, 45.4% of the households existed out of single persons and in 12.0% someone aged 65 or older was single. The average household size was 1.79 people and the average family size was 2.42 people.

Of the population, 11.0% were under 19 years old, 2.6% were between 20 and 24, 28.7% between 25 and 44, 32.9% between 45 and 64 and 23.8% were 65 Years old or older. The median age was 49.5 years.

The average income per household in 2007 amounted to 101,144 US dollars . The average value of a home in 2007 was $ 1,354,100.

Balboa Island in Art and Media

In film and television

The island has already been the scene and location of several film and television productions. However, only the most famous productions are listed below:

The thirteenth year (1999), the Disney Channel- produced film is set primarily on Balboa Island and was filmed here and elsewhere in Newport Beach.
Timeshare (2000) with Timothy Dalton and Nastassja Kinski is set on the island.
Arrested Development (2003-06), the TV series is about a family who run a frozen banana stand on Balboa Island. Most of the filming of the series took place in Culver City .

In music

The English rock band The Pretty Things released an album in 2007 called Balboa Island . There is a song on it with the same name.

Personalities

Due to its unique location, Balboa Island was a magnet for well-known personalities from the 1950s onwards. Actors from nearby Hollywood in particular discovered the island.

The following celebrities lived on Balboa Island:

John Wayne (1907–1979), the actor, had a house on Bay Shore. His ship Wild Goose is still in the bay today.
Buddy Ebsen (1908–2003), the actor lived on the South Bay Front
Harry Carey (1921–2012), the actor lived on the North Bay Front.

Many famous people also spent the summer here and owned boats that were anchored on the island. These included James Cagney , John Barrymore , Humphrey Bogart , Lauren Bacall , Betty Davis , Andy Devine , Edgar Bergen , Henry Mancini and Shirley Temple .