Small town’s history is one for the books

Deepa Bharath

It’s less of a book and more of a tribute to a community of Utopian

proportions.

“The History of Corona del Mar: Centennial Issue” is an account of

the town’s simple origins and its transformation into a coastal haven

for multimillion-dollar homes.

But the crux of the story is how it has remained a little village,

retaining much of its quaint charm and small-town feel, said Douglas

Westfall, writer and publisher of the special edition to be released

during the weekend-long Corona del Mar Centennial Celebration this

week.

The real significance of this publication is that it’s the first

of its kind, Westfall said.

“Corona del Mar has a wealth of history despite being a small

community,” he said.

The book is 175 pages long with close to 200 photos, of which 50

are aerial photos showing how the area saw tremendous growth over the

years, Westfall said.

“But a surprising fact is that Corona del Mar never saw any growth

until after World War II,” he said.

The book starts in the 1840s, when the land was owned by ranchers.

The land was later transferred to the Irvine Co. James Irvine, at the

time, owned everything from Lido Isle to Laguna Canyon almost to the

Riverside County border. The man who made his millions by selling

produce in San Francisco owned 20% of the land in Orange County.

Irvine then sold the 706-acre area from what is now Jamboree Road

to the Five Crowns restaurant and 5th Street to George Hart, Westfall

said.

“To [Irvine], it was just tidelands and bluffs,” he said.

When Irvine sold the 706 acres for $150 in 1904, he stated: “I

consider it a good sale. Almost one-fourth of the area is nothing but

marshlands.”

Hart struggled to sell the lots because Corona del Mar was

virtually inaccessible in those days, Westfall said.

“You had to take a boat from Balboa Peninsula to get there,” he

said. “That was the case until the developer built Back Bay Drive.”

A brochure from 1937 shows that homes were priced at $13,000, big

money in those days.

“After 1946, things started to build up in Corona del Mar,”

Westfall said.

After that, there was no looking back for Corona del Mar.

The book also has many images captured by Howard Folsom, a local

photographer who owns Harbor Studio in the village.

“[Folsom] walked out the door one morning in 1949 and found the

whole area blanketed by snow,” Westfall said. “He rushed inside to

get his camera, because it’s very rare, obviously.”

That photo is part of the special publication as well, he said.

Many photos came from the Sherman Library’s collection. Bill

Hendricks, director and historian of the Sherman Library, edited the

book as well.

The book is “one of the best ways to celebrate the history of the

community,” said Laura Dietz, who was one of the book’s editors and

Corona del Mar resident for 16 years.

The area caught her eye and captured her heart even as she drove

by many years ago, Dietz said.

“It’s an ideal place to live, raise a family and enjoy the

amenities of the area,” she said. “It’s a terrific place with people

who care about the community and are happy with the high quality of

life.”

The book is priced at $19.04 -- a cute reference to the year from

a century ago when the place everyone knows as Corona del Mar came to

be.

* DEEPA BHARATH is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

She may be reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at

[email protected].