Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church
As development and tourism boomed on the Balboa Peninsula in the 1920s, the Catholic Church bought 4 lots from the Pacific Electric Railroad and built a small wooden church in which, in 1924, the parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was established by Bishop John C. Cantwell. Serving the seemingly large area of Newport Beach, Balboa Peninsula, Balboa Island, Costa Mesa and Corona Del Mar, the initial congregation was comprised of twenty, year round families. An addition was made to the original church in 1936. Three adjacent lots were purchased in 1944 with a fourth after WWII. The present church and rectory were built in 1950-51.
Balboa Peninsula, Newport Beach, Orange County
Photographer: Andrew Schmidt