The Argh-igins of Pirate’s Cove by William Lobdell

Here are 10 things you may not know about the history of Pirate’s Cove in Corona del Mar.

1. Pirate's Cove was originally known as Rocky Point, a name coined in the late 19th Century for all of what’s now Corona del Mar State Beach. 

2. For a short time, it also went by the equally cool name, Smugglers’ Cave. 

3. Pirate's Cove got its name from the silent movies filmed there in the 1920s, several of which involved full-scale pirate ships.

4. In 1925, the Sparr's Bathhouse opened in Pirate’s Cove, offering wool suits for rent, showers and a novel service called daycare.

5. The odd finger jetty that sticks out into the harbor was built in 1928 to keep the then-sizable beach in front of the bathhouse from eroding. 

6. The bathhouse quickly became a hangout for top surfers, including legendary Hawaiian waterman and Olympic gold medalist Duke Kahanamoku. He would store his 100-pound boards there and paddle to the waves from the cove’s beach. 

7. Antar “Tony” Degara, a Russian immigrant who served as Newport Beach’s first chief and meteorologist (he was an interesting character), kept a dory at Pirate’s Cove for ocean rescues that he spotted from his weather station, which is where Lookout Point is today. 

8. The bathhouse was damaged in a fire in the 1940s and never rebuilt. 

9. You can find a tunnel at Pirate’s Cove that used to run under the rocky outcropping and exit on the beach side. In the 1970s, the tunnel was sealed.

10. Pirate's Cove has been the site of many mass baptisms, which began in the 1960s as part of the Jesus Movement and continue to this day.

William Lobdell is the historian laureate for the City of Newport Beach. He is also founder of Newport Beach in the Rearview Mirror, which produces a local history podcast and 90-second videos (with nearly seven million views) that appear on Instagram.

Follow on IG @newport.in.the.rearview.mirror