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Photograph of Balboa Pavilion
Photograph by Flickr user fontplaydotcom, CC BY 2.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Balboa Pavilion

Built in 1906 (Queen Anne style). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. 18 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1896.

From the record

“The Balboa Pavilion in Newport Beach, Orange County, California, is a California Historical Landmark and a National Historic Place. Established on July 1, 1906, the Balboa Pavilion played a prominent role in the development of Newport Beach by attracting real estate buyers to an area formerly designated as "swamp and overflow" land.”

Wikipedia article Balboa Pavilion, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 136 National Register listings published here for Orange County · listed in 1984 · category: Building · built in 1906, Queen Anne style.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 400 Main St., Balboa, 92661
  • When was it listed? May 1984
  • Category. building
  • Census division. Central Coast
  • When was it built? 1906
  • Architectural style. Queen Anne style
  • National Register reference number. 84000914 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Then and now

1896 to 1983

The ground this property stands on, surveyed 87 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet covering Balboa Pavilion, surveyed 1983
Topographic sheet covering Balboa Pavilion, surveyed 1896

Fires near this property

163 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 163 fires within 5 miles of Balboa Pavilion between 2005 and 2020, burning about 83 acres in total. None started naturally. 34 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined106
Arson/incendiarism34
Misuse of fire by a minor7
Smoking6
Debris and open burning5
Equipment and vehicle use4
Recreation and ceremony1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
8 September 2011Arson/incendiarismunder an acreOrange County Fire Authoritynot named
3 September 2020Arson/incendiarismunder an acreOrange County Fire Authoritynot named
24 September 2005Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
2 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
19 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
17 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreOrange County Fire Authoritynot named
15 September 2018Arson/incendiarismunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
8 August 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreOrange County Fire Authoritynot named

Every fire recorded in Orange County

Mines and quarries near this property

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Balboa Pavilion: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Salt. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Newport Bay, Shellmaker, Inc.SaltPast Producer
Salt PondsSaltPast Producer

Every working recorded in Orange County

Maps showing this location

18 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Balboa Inn0.1 miles1986
Bank of Balboa-Bank of America0.1 miles1986
Lovell Beach House1.0 miles1974
WILD GOOSE (yacht)1.8 miles2011
Crystal Cove Historic District3.8 miles1979
Huntington Beach Municipal Pier7.0 miles1989

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 84000914 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Orange CountyAll 136 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.