“W.S. Collins: Balboa Island Visionary, Con Man or Both?” takes a deep dive into the life of the most intriguing figure in Newport history: W.S. Collins. The farsighted land speculator is best known for buying the entire Newport Bea...

For more than 50 years, the Collins Castle stood sentry over Newport Harbor. The concrete mansion once rivaled the stately Balboa Pavilion—five years its junior— for the attention of boaters on the bay. Located on tiny Collins Island, which ...

For decades, the beach in West Newport would occasionally disappear when storm waves stripped away the sand. In the 1930s, one storm wiped out the beach and sent several homes to Davy’s Locker. A later storm wiped out all  the oce...

There’s no chunk of land in Newport Beach that’s more historic and has been more malleable than the Castaways. Its chameleon-like ability, enabled by its prime location overlooking the bay and ocean, has given the Castaways nine distinct liv...

In 1909, W.S. Collins wanted to massively increase the footprint of his Balboa Island development. The land extension would have cut the width of Newport Harbor's main channel by more than half. In those days, the federal governmen...

In 1984, the first swim test required to join Newport Beach's new junior lifeguard program drew all of three kids. Today, that number has soared to more than 1,500. In an insightful, revealing and occasionally emotional interview, Reenie Boyer<...

The rock-solid foundation for Newport Beach's prized lifeguard operation goes back more than 100 years, forged in tragedy and a Russian immigrant’s belief in 1923 that a city lifeguard department–a rarity in those days–could prevent the frequen...

J.J. Moon was more Paul Bunyon than Kelly Slater. The surf hero of the 1960s was the alter ego of Ned Eckert, a very average weekend surfer–and still a Newport Beach resident, by the way–who enthusiastically embraced a practical joke played on ...

Newport Beach’s rich journalistic history dates to 1870, only a few days after a “new port” was established in Upper Newport Bay and the Los Angeles Star reported the news. Over the years, many local newspapers have come and gone, almo...

When the 1953 National Boy Scout Jamboree came to town, the event created an insta-city of 50,000 Scouts and their leaders in the rolling hills of what's now Newport Center/Fashion Island, Big Canyon and Eastbluff. Guest interview: Don Webb, fo...

For more than six decades beginning in the 1880s. Lido Isle went through a series of owners (most of whom got the island basically for free) and failed developments before—in the latter part of the 20th Century—it turned into some of the most c...

Ever wonder how a Newport Beach road, school, park, surf spot, canyon or even an offshore rock formation got its name? There's a sadness to the fact that the name's meaning--which was so obvious back in the day--has been lost, something only af...

How many cities in California can say they are home to eight islands? Just one: Newport Beach. We take a look at the histories of the eight residential islands in Newport Harbor: Balboa Island, Little Balboa Island, Collins Island, Bay Island, ...

The most famous Newport Beach resident of all time? That's easy. John Wayne. When he lived in Newport in the 1960s and 70s, the Duke, as he was called, reigned as the world's most famous movie star.  In this episode, the Duke's youngest so...

Completed in 1906, the Balboa Pavilion on the Newport Harbor bayfront is Newport Beach’s oldest, most historic, and most beautiful building, beloved by artists, photographers, locals and visitors alike. It’s the city’s version of the Eiffel Tow...

A sea captain's decision in 1870 that resulted in countless deaths at the entrance to Newport Bay over the next half-century. A decades-long attempt to turn Newport Harbor into a commercial port. A short-sighted agreement in 1928 to place the O...

Trying to develop Corona del Mar in the early 20th Century. Planning for Fashion Island to be an indoor shopping center. Proposing to jam 80,000 residents (for context, Newport's population today is about 87,000) into the Newport Coast. Newport...

A race-car track on Balboa Island. Surfboard licenses. Tearing down the China House. Newport Beach, in one form or another, has been around for more than 150 years, and over that time, there's been some terrible ideas floated, and some even imp...

On a sunny day in the spring of 1971, a ragtag group of adventures gathered on a Newport Beach hilltop to participate in the first hang-gliding meet in modern history. A front-page story in the Los Angeles Times and an eight-page spread in Nati...

The mostly forgotten, rich history of the many bridges of Newport Beach, beginning in 1889.

Legendary architect and Corona del Mar resident Ron Yeo counts down the seven best examples of architecture in Newport Beach.

At the end of the Balboa Peninsula, the Wedge is internationally recognized as the world's best (and most dangerous) bodysurfing spot. In this episode, learn:How the Wedge was created by a manmade accident in 1936.Why no on...

In this pop quiz on Newport  Beach's origins, you’ll be tested on:Why Newport Landing (Newport’s Plymouth Rock and first port, which is on the site of what’s now the Lower Castaways) became a ghost town virtually overnight afte...

This multiple-choice test covers the earliest days of Newport Beach history.  The six questions are: Despite explorers and merchants sailing off the coast of California beginning in the mid-1500s, why was there no mention ...

Episode 14, "The Coastal Freeway: A Concrete Monster that Almost Destroyed Newport," has generated some amazing responses on social media. Some expressed disbelief  at how close Newport was to having a freeway (12 lanes at its...