This museum explores how Balboa Island rose out of the sea
Vintage surf and paddle boards, an exhibit on the history of the Newport Beach Lifeguards and a look into the life of Hollywood legend John Wayne, are among the must-sees at the new Balboa Island Museum.
The museum, which opens in its new location on Friday, Nov. 29, offers a deep dive into the history of the island and shows why it’s such a favorite California destination. Exhibits also explore surrounding Newport Beach – chronicling the history of the area from the Native Americans to present day.
The museum, which started as a one-room collection in 2000, has expanded into a 2,200-square-foot space and is now in a historical and prominent location on Marine Avenue.
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“People will come in here and read and see things they’ve never known about before,” said Celeste Demerline, who wrote the texts accompanying the displays and interactive exhibits. “It’s history we’ve dug out of the depths.”
Key among the museum’s 15 exhibits is a view into the island’s first resident, William Collins, and his efforts that turned “swamp and overflow land” into a coveted location for multi-million-dollar beachfront homes.
Collins’ vision began with a dredger and imagination, said Shirley Pepys, president of the Balboa Island Museum.
From 1905 to 1913, he dredged around the island, piling silt and sand onto the lowest areas until the entire island was dry at low tide. He used horses pulling rakes to flatten and smooth the sand. Three sections were created: the main island, Little Island and Collins Island – where the Collins Castle was built. Collins and his realtors began offering lots for between $300 and $600 before the island was completed in 1913. After Collins went bankrupt, lots were sold for as little as $25.
“He didn’t sell to upper-class people,” Demerline said. “Those people bought second homes in La Jolla and Santa Barbara. People that bought here were middle class.”
Along with its look at how Newport Beach and Balboa Island came to be, exhibits on lifeguards, the infamous Wedge surf spot and Duke Kahanamoku, known as the most influential surfer of all time and a legend in Newport Beach, are sure to wow those fascinated with surf culture and Hollywood.
The 1928 Pacific Coast Surf Board Championships held in Corona Del Mar are showcased with the story of the creativity that helped winner Tom Blake and change surfing styles.
Blake drilled holes into his 15-foot redwood paddle board to lighten its weight from 150 pounds to 100 pounds. Using the board in the 1928 competition he easily won the 440-yard paddling contest.
After the shotgun start, Blake let the other riders get out ahead, paddling through the 6- to 7-foot waves, Demerline wrote alongside a photo in the exhibit. Having stacked a lighter 9-foot board on top of his 15-foot paddling board, he headed after the pack, still reaching the buoy first. There he turned back toward shore and waited for a set of waves.
“Blake dumped his heavier paddle board and caught the second stronger wave on his lighter 9-foot board,” Demerline wrote. “He used his legs to turn the shorter board and headed further down the beach for the win. Many claimed this was the first time they’d seen a surf rider turn a board.
Blake’s later invention, the fin, would make boards easier to control and end the era of ‘straight-to-shore’ surf riding.”
“People will come here to relive memories,” Demerline said. “You walk into the door and its visually stunning.”
If you go
- What: Balboa Island Museum
- Where: 210 Marine Avenue, Newport Beach
- Hours: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily