Bay Island (California) facts for kids
Bay Island is a small island in Newport Beach, California. It sits about halfway down the Balboa Peninsula. This island is unique because it's the only one in Newport Beach harbor where cars are not allowed. You can only reach it by a small bridge that fits golf carts. While the island itself isn't open to the public by land, its beaches are for everyone to enjoy, thanks to California's laws. Bay Island has 23 homes, a lovely botanical garden, a courtyard garden, a tennis court, and several beaches.
How Bay Island Began
Bay Island is the only natural island in Newport Harbor. Long ago, it was mostly a wet, muddy area with just one small hill of dry land. In 1904, two men named R. J. Waters and Rufus Sanborn bought this land for $350. Rufus Sanborn was a vice president at a bank in Los Angeles. They saw it as a great spot for duck hunting.
They started a hunting club. Sanborn built a small shack on the dry hill for hunters. At first, hunters could only get there when the tide was low. But soon, a walkway on stilts was built, making it easier to visit. The hunting club became very popular. By the second year, they even added a poker club and invited women to join the fun.
Early Homes and Famous Residents
By 1907, Rufus Sanborn had built his own home on the island. In the same year, Sam Tustin, whose father founded the city of Tustin, also built a house nearby. However, he quickly sold it to a very famous actress named Madame Helena Modjeska.
Helena Modjeska was Bay Island's most well-known early resident. She was an amazing actress from Poland. Her talent was noticed when she was young, and she became a star in Europe. Later, she moved to the United States. She tried farming in Anaheim, which didn't work out. But America loved her acting, and she quickly became a beloved stage star here too.
Just before she passed away in 1909, Madame Modjeska bought Tustin's home on Bay Island. Because she was Orange County's first rich and famous resident, Bay Island was even temporarily renamed in her honor!
Other notable people who lived on Bay Island include H.R. Haldeman, who was a top aide to President Richard Nixon, and Otis Chandler, who was the publisher of the Los Angeles Times newspaper.
