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Amy R. Spurgeon
1900s NEWPORT BEACHPopulation in 1906: 445Schools: One school located
east of the Newport Pier; later served as first City Hall in 1905Housing:
Bayfront housing sold for $150 to $500Major crops: Corn, pumpkins
By the time the city was incorporated in 1906 it consisted of four
settlements:
* Newport Beach -- the wharf-side fishing village
* West Newport -- containing newly dredged canals
* East Newport and Bay Island -- summer resorts
* Balboa
COSTA MESAPrior to cityhood in 1953 Costa Mesa consisted mainly of
unincorporated areas and three communities:* Paularino -- a farming
community;
* Fairview -- a boomtown; one school consisting of rows of children
separated by ages; 29 students in first class, students were paid $1 a
week for cleaning the school and ringing the bell; one church; a
creamery; a general store; a town physician; a post office and
postmaster; one drug store
* Harper -- a village
Crops: 400 apple orchids existed in what is now known as “downtown” Costa
MesaSources:
“Host of the Coast: The History of the Balboa Bay Club” by James P.
Felton, 1984
“Newport Beach 75: 1906-1981” by James P. Felton, 1981”A Slice of Orange:
The History of Costa Mesa” by Edrick J. Miller, 1970
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