Newport Beach in the Rearview Mirror

A look back at the events and people—famous and forgotten—that shaped Newport Beach. Follow on Instagram (newport.in.the.rearview.mirror).

Newport Beach in the Rearview Mirror is a history podcast hosted by Hosted by William Lobdell, with 43 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Hosted by William Lobdell hosts Newport Beach in the Rearview Mirror, a history show with 43 episodes published.

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  Newport Beach in the Rearview Mirror

  43: The Legend of Ron Salisbury and How the Cannery Was Saved

  Feb 3, 202643 minS0

  <p>The history of the Western Canners factory on the Balboa Peninsula —both the cannery, which opened in 1935, and later the iconic restaurant—is woven deeply into the fabric of Newport Beach history.</p><p>After churning out up to 5,000 cans of seafood daily (for humans and cats), the cannery closed in the 1960s, and then the historic property was saved twice: once in the early 1970s when retired engineer Bill Hamilton turned the closed factory site into the Cannery restaurant, and then again in 1999 when a history-minded businessman named Jack Croul (who never eaten at the Cannery before) paid thre...

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  Newport Beach in the Rearview Mirror

  42: The Balboa Bay Club's Beginnings

  Sep 5, 202537 minS0

  <p>Founded in 1948, the nationally renowned Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach has had many roles over the decades: a haunt for some of the biggest Hollywood stars, a stop for every Republican U.S. President since Dwight Eisenhower (Nixon even set up an office there complete with a hotline to the Kremlin), a venue for some of Newport's biggest charity events, and a refuge for families, professionals and others.</p><p>It's become as much a part of the city's fabric as the Balboa Pavilion, the Balboa Island Ferry, and the Wedge.</p><p>Here's the story about the...

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  Newport Beach in the Rearview Mirror

  41: The Big Gamble — Building Eastbluff

  Jul 6, 202522 minS0

  <p>In the early-1960s, the Irvine Co. decided to build a relatively new type of residential community by creating an all-inclusive village that included a variety of housing types for different life stages and incomes, long ribbons of greenbelts, parks, a retail center, schools, and houses of worship.</p><p>The result was Eastbluff, one of Newport Beach's most beloved communities whose instant success inspired the Irvine Co.'s 22 villages in neighboring Irvine.</p><p>Guest: Mike Stockstill, former Irvine Co. executive and co-author of the book, "Transforming the Irvine Ranch."</p>

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  Newport Beach in the Rearview Mirror

  40: W.S. Collins — Balboa Island Visionary, Con Man or Both? (Part 2)

  Apr 26, 202541 minS0

  <p>“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. </p><p>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.</p><p>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...

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  Newport Beach in the Rearview Mirror

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

  Jul 1, 202443 minS0

  <p>“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. </p><p>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.</p><p>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...

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