39: W.S. Collins — Balboa Island Visionary, Con Man or Both? (Part 1)

“W.S. Collins: Balboa Island Visionary, Con Man or Both?” takes a
deep dive into the life of the most intriguing figure in Newport
history: W.S. Collins. 


The farsighted land speculator is best known for buying the
entire Newport Beach townsite (almost all of the peninsula) in
1902. And for his next act, he created Balboa Island out of a
tiny, mosquito-ridden mudflat.


But Collins also had a darker side that’s been rarely explored,
whether it was literally trying to hang a second-grader in his
first job as an teacher in Kansas, marrying five times,
conducting shady business deals, or going bankrupt and leaving
behind a partially (and poorly) developed Balboa Island along
with an island full of angry residents. 


Looked at as a whole, Collins packed in an insane amount of
living in his 88 years. In addition to his Newport exploits, he
also was a citrus farmer, oilman, dealmaker, championship
motorcyclist, early car enthusiast, speedboat champion, and
serial entrepreneur, among other things. 


For our money, W.S. Collins is the most interesting person in
Newport Beach history.