Garage Door Company in Newport Beach, CA

The Upper Bay of Newport is a canyon carved by a stream in the Pleistocene period. The Lower Bay of Newport was formed much later by sand brought along by ocean currents, which constructed the offshore beach now recognized as the Balboa Peninsula of Newport Beach.

For thousands of years, the Tongva people lived on the land in an extensive, thriving community. The Tongva villages of Genga and Moyongna were located in Newport Beach. Throughout the 1800s, Europeans colonized the land and forcibly removed and assimilated the Tongva. Present-day Newport Beach exists upon the unceded homelands of the Tongva people, and they have a historical and continued presence as the traditional caretakers of the land.

The State of California sold acre-plots of land for $1 a piece in the Newport area. Anglo-American inhabitation in the area grew substantially following 1870 when a 105-ton steamer named The Vaquero, captained by Captain Samuel S. Dunnells (against warnings posted by surveyors), safely steered through the lower and upper bay of Newport where it unloaded its cargo. James Irvine upon hearing the astonishing news, quickly traveled from his home in San Francisco to the San Joaquin Ranch. Meeting in Irvine’s ranch house near current day UC Irvine with his brother, Robert Irvine, and friend James McFadden, they agreed that the newly found port should be simply named “Newport” which is where Newport Beach gets its name. James McFadden built a long McFadden Wharf in 1888.