Looking Back

Young Chang

The recently renovated and reopened Newport Pier has done more for the

city than what you’d think a 1,032-foot strip could do.

Newport Beach isn’t exactly known for its fishing anymore -- things

like Fashion Island and the big, beautiful waterfront homes have sort of

stolen the industry’s thunder -- but the city still is and was a major

fishing destination in Southern California.

The Newport Pier was what really launched it all.

It was built in 1888 to replace another pier that was inside the

harbor. That area had too many sand spits though and cargo ships that

were bringing in lumber and building materials had trouble getting in,

said longtime Newport resident Gay Wassall-Kelly.

When researchers measured the depth of the ocean under the Newport

Pier, they found a large natural trench alongside it.

“It was perfect for all the big ships,” Wassall-Kelly said.

The Newport Pier preceded the Balboa Pier, which was built in 1906.

Fishing off of this first pier was a new experience, but fishing in

general had been going on since the Indians lived here. In the

mid-to-late 1800s, shark fishing became popular and succeeded as a

business.

When Newport Pier came into being, people used bamboo poles, handlines

and drop-lines, according to James Felton’s “Newport Beach, The First

Century, 1888-1988.”

The popular fish to bait were yellowtail, barracuda and a type of

halibut. The supply of yellowtail dwindled in the 1930s though.

“That’s the way most families in the old days got their fish,”

Wassall-Kelly said.

The city of Newport Beach bought the pier in 1922 for $5,000 and

rebuilt the structure with $30,000-plus. A stretch of railroad tracks

that met the end of the pier were removed. This made fishing there easier

and more popular.

In 1939, a horrible hurricane tore off 600 feet of the pier, which led

to another major renovation in 1940.

But the pier was redone and fishing carried on as usual.

Wassall-Kelly cited the Dory fisherman, who established their fleet

there, for helping to keep small-scale fishing alive in the area.

“It’s kept a tradition that’s been lost on many waters because a lot

of the ocean has been fished out by commercial fishing,” she said. “I

think with the Dory fisherman there, it creates a little of our history.”

* Do you know of a person, place or event that deserves a historical

Look Back? Let us know. Contact Young Chang by fax at (949) 646-4170;

e-mail at [email protected]; or mail her at c/o Daily Pilot, 330 W.

Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627.