Del Mar Hotel - the first structure in Corona del Mar
The building at the corner of Carnation and Seaview is on the site of the Hotel Del Mar, built in 1907. The Hotel was commissioned by the man who first envisioned Corona del Mar – and named it – George E. Hart, a Los Angeles real estate salesman. In 1904, Hart bought 706 acres of land for $150.00/acre from The Irvine Company. He selected this location for the showpiece of his new development, the Del Mar Hotel.At the time he made the deal, Hart expected that the Pacific Electric Railway, the so-called Red Cars, would extend from Los Angeles as far as Corona del Mar. However, when the railway was extended south in 1906, the terminus was the Balboa Peninsula, not Corona del Mar.Corona del Mar had a geography problem – the only way to the new subdivision was by boat from Balboa or by a road owned by The Irvine Company. When it was clear that the Pacific Electric would not reach Corona del Mar, Hart tried to cut his losses by deeding back 359 acres to The Irvine Company. In 1907, he built the Hotel Del Mar to encourage people to visit – and he hoped – to buy land. It did not work. By 1915, Hart was ready to wind up his Corona del Mar adventure.Hart sold his remaining land, including the Hotel Del Mar, to the F. D. Cornell Co. which renamed it the Palisades Tavern. The F. D. Cornell Co had no more success than Hart, and by 1920, Corona del Mar had fewer than 50 homes. A group of investors briefly owned the building in the late 1920s, renaming it the Balboa Palisades Club. They built a companion bath and boat house in nearby China Cove (see point 2), yet failed to make a success of the venture. The investors probably expected a real estate boom once Coast Highway was extended through Corona del Mar in 1926, but the boom did not materialize, and within a few years the Great Depression took hold. The building changed hands several times and has since been an inn, tavern and condos.
Pirates Cove, Jetties and The Wedge
Visible immediately below Lookout Point is Pirate’s Cove. The origins of the name are unclear. No evidence exists that the cove was ever used by pirates, although it may have been used as a hiding spot for Prohibition-era bootleggers. The name pirate’s cove most likely came into use because of one or more silent movies using the location. Movie studios frequently shot films along Corona del Mar’s scenic shoreline. Unfortunately, few of these films have survived, so we have no film of Hollywood pirates in the cove.Beyond Pirate’s Cove is the entrance to Newport Harbor. Today it is a safe entry into the harbor, but before its completion in1936 the strong tides, shifting sandbars and unpredictable waves claimed the lives of many people. In just one of many tragic events, on June 14,1925 a 40-foot charter fishing boat heading out of the bay foundered, sending 17 people into the water. Nearby surfers, including the great Duke Kahanamoku and Gerald “Jerry” Vultee took to their boards in attempt to save the men. In an incredible feat of strength, Kahanamoku is credited with saving 7 men. His fellow surfers and a weather station official, Antar Deraga, saved another four.The following year the eldest son of businessman George Rogers drowned while attempting to leave the bay. Rogers became determined to make the harbor safe. He worked with the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce to lobby for Federal funds and to convince voters to support a bond measure to make Newport Harbor safe. On May 26, 1936 Newport Harbor officially opened, with Rogers in his yacht The Memory leading the celebration. The building of the west jetty spoiled some of the best surfing on in California. However, sand from dredging the harbor was placed along the west jetty, creating The Wedge, one of the premier surf spots, especially for body surfers.Be sure to watch the video by William Lobdell.
Big Corona - Corona del Mar State Beach
At noon on Sunday August 7, 1928, the Corona del Mar Surf Board Association sponsored the first Pacific Coast Surf Board Championship and Sparr Bathhouse manager, T. W. Sheffield, organized the event. This was one of the first major surfing competitions on the West Coast.The competitions included a paddling contest from Corona del Mar beach to the west jetty and back, canoe tilting, a demonstration of the use of surfboards for life saving, and finally a "rough water" surfboard race from the bell buoy off the harbor entrance to the channel nearest the east jetty.Had Duke Kahanamoku been at the race, he would have been the favorite to win. Kahanamoku, however, could not attend, because he was filming a movie The Rescue. The contestants included Tom Blake, who later would write the first book on surfing and revolutionize board designs, and Gerard Vultee, a pioneer in the airspace industry. Blake took home silver trophies for first place in both the paddleboard and surfing competitions.When the surf competition took place, Corona del Mar was not yet part of Newport Beach and the beach itself was private property. It was initially intended to be developed, yet one woman, Mary Burton, thought it should be a public beach, and it was largely through her efforts that the City of Newport Beach eventually took action to acquire the land. In 1931 the city filed a suit again the ned the beach, to clarify the title on the beach lands. The suit lasted for five years before the city and the bank negotiated an agreement that gave the city title to the beach in return for other land in Corona del Mar. Then in 1947 the city agreed to deed the land to the State of California in return for the State acquiring additional parcels on the bluffs and declaring the site as Corona del Mar State Park. In 1963, it was re-designated Corona del Mar State Beach.
Inspiration Point
Inspiration Point on the bluff in Corona del Mar between Narcissus and Orchid Streets offers some of the most beautiful and sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean along the coast of Southern California.In 1987, in recognition of the site’s majesty and importance, the Newport Beach Arts Commission and Parks, Beaches & Recreation Department co-sponsored a design competition to commemorate the site. The resulting commission, “Disappearing Path,” became the City’s first Art in Public Places project. The winners of the competition were the world-class collaborative team of Newton Harrison and Helen Mayer Harrison along with Cunningham Design Inc. and artists Paul Hobson and Marcello Petrocelli.The installation includes a sand-colored concrete walkway leading from street level to a broad view plateau, teak benches, stanchions supporting a railing made of horizontal steel cables (inspired by a sailboat lifeline,) strategically placed boulders, and native, erosion-resistant landscaping. The designers of “Disappearing Path” where pioneers of the “eco-art movement” who used landscape and architectural elements to transform the original dilapidated footpath into a sublime setting recognizing both Newport’s environmental and community roots.On the rocks below Inspiration point rest a statue of a seal created by Corona del Mar artist Kay Finch dedicated to her husbund, Braden Finch, who was active in the Corona del Mar community and efforts to preserve local beaches.Be sure to watch the video by William Lobdell.
Little Corona Overlook
Little Corona was once one of the prettiest beaches around. Unfortunately, it has been severely impacted by development of the watershed which has eliminated the natural source of sand for the beach. Urban runoff from that development has transformed what was once a dry canyon of cactus and coastal sage into a permanent stream that cuts across what sand remains. Little Corona is a marine reserve, and the city has made a great effort to protect the reserve with signage, docents and the like. Even with those efforts, however, there are so many visitors that the tide pools do not have the richness of marine life they once had. Beyond the beach to the south is Arch Rock and beyond that is Ladder Rock, so named because for many years there was a wooden ladder that people used to climb to the top. At the north end of the beach is Camel Rock
