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The Balboa Island zip code is 92662.
The island was not always easy to get to. Newport Harbor was still largely undredged, and sailboat was often the only way to
get around. Robert McFadden, an early Balboa Harbor developer had established a successful fishing wharf on the Balboa Peninsula
and by 1906, the Pacific Electric line Red Cars began service to the Balboa Peninsula and Balboa Pavilion, and soon, the Red
Cars would bring thousands of summertime visitors from Los Angeles.
Within a few years, real estate promoters began sending salesmen up to wealthy Pasadena and soon to Los Angeles (both connected
by the Red Cars) to promote property in and around Newport Harbor. Considerable Balboa Island property was sold in Pasadena, and
this is one of the reasons that so many longtime Island residents continue to have family and contacts in the Pasadena area. One
of these real estate promoters was William Collins. At the time, Balboa Island was little more than a sandbar that was usually
swallowed up by high tide.
In 1908 and 1909, with permission of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, Collins dredged the surrounding bay and piled
the sand on the little sandbar that he came to call Balboa Island. Collins originally sold lots on the Island for as little
as $25, with the promise of a bridge and ferry service to follow. Joseph Allan Beek, while still a student at Pasadena City
College, was enchanted with the area, and became one of Collins' salesmen. Joe Beek played a crucial role in the development
of Balboa Island, and spent a lifetime devoted to it. He later served as Secretary of the California State Senate until his
death in 1968.
The island grew slowly at first, but in 1916, it became part of the City of Newport Beach. By 1921, homes were beginning to
fill in the Island and Balboa Peninsula. Roads to the Newport Harbor area were still largely undeveloped, and many people still
arrived by rail to the peninsula and took the ferry over to the island. Although the first Bridge from the mainland to the
North Bayfront was built in 1912, it was not capable of carrying automobiles until 1929, when it was refurbished.
In 1919, after complaints of inadequate service, the city of Newport Beach awarded a fifteen-year franchise to Joseph Beek to run
the ferry. At first it only carried pedestrians, but by 1921, was also transporting cars to the Island. The ferry operation remains
in the Beek family.
In 1953, the International Boy Scout Jamboree held its event where Newport Center and Fashion Island now sit. Thousands of tents
were pitched in the area reachable only by a two-lane muddy trail called Palisades Road. The road was soon paved, and later the
name was changed to Jamboree Road in honor of the Scouts.
Today it remains a major thoroughfare through Newport Beach, and ends at Balboa Island. Over the years, Balboa Island has developed
into a close-knit community, home to professionals, families, retirees, students and celebrities. Some bay front lots that once
sold for $25 are now appraised at over $3 million dollars.
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