White, Meyer Families Span 100+ Years of Newport
Museum Packs ’24 Event Calendar
Meyers and Joneses: That’s Publisher/Investor Sam Meyer top left, with wife Vera at the beach at Lido Yacht Club early ‘40s. Rev. Harry White (right) in the bow of his rowboat, wife Ida in the stern. Circa 1915.
Many Newport families trace back 100+ years. It’s a gem when a family member tells the early stories so vividly – as granddaughters Kathryn White and Nancy Jones did for us in the Balboa Island Museum Newport Beach’s latest round of Legacy Videos.
Kathy and Nancy are the grandkids of Methodist Minister, Rev. Harry White, and Newspaperman, Sam Meyer.
“(Grandpa Rev. Harry W. White) and my dad (Harry Warren “Nibs” White) told my sister and I great stuff,” Kathy White said. “…how wonderful it was to grow up here, footloose, and fancy free.”
Reverend White heard the Balboa Pavilion was opening and hopped on a Red Car and headed south. Was 1906.
“They rowed him across, he bought a lot for $75,” White said. “They hammered a stake in with a little flag. 106 Garnet…nothing going then. No water. No electricity.”
The Whites built a home on that sandy lot, and in 1917 Harry’s cousin Joe Beek, told him of a lot on 1104 S. Bay Front. $50! The home stayed in the White family for 97 years.
“Wish we could’ve kept it forever…the story of early Balboa families,” Kathy White said.
“Bought for $50, sold for?”
“Roughly $4 million,” White said with a chuckle. “A good profit.”
As for Sam Meyer, if there’s such a thing as fortuitous pneumonia, the Arizona resident suffered from it in 1921.
“They put a sheet over him and blew cold air. No air conditioning then,” Nancy Jones said. “They told him move to a marine environment.”
Sam took over Newport News in 1922, a four-page, five column paper on Balboa Peninsula. He was a publisher most of his life, moving in lofty circles.
Nancy’s grandparents lived on Lido Isle and made a ground-floor investment in Newport Balboa Savings & Loan in 1936, with founders Paul Palmer, Joe Beek, Agnes Blomquist.
“At the time, nobody would loan money for sandlots on Lido and Balboa,” Jones said. When the bank sold to Imperial Savings, Nancy’s 100 shares paid off handsomely.
“Put me in a position where I could volunteer in the community,” Jones said.
As for Rev. Harry White and son “Nibs,” they were more than just plucky to buy early sand on Balboa.
“Renaissance men,” White said. “…granddad a fabulous photographer, painter…neat guy.”
“Dad built boats…started as a professional singer, wound up in early-day computers, Lockheed. Smart dude, one of the first grand marshals of the Balboa Parade.”
Kathy White still lives on Balboa Island. Nancy Jones and her Silver-Star recipient husband on Newport Coast.
“I’m one of the most blessed people ever,” Nancy Jones said.
Check out Balboa Island Museum Newport Beach’s Legacy Videos at balboaislandmuseum.org/oral-history and on NBTV, Spectrum 3.
Visit Balboa Island Museum Newport Beach. Open daily. Free general admission. Become a member. balboaislandmuseum.org/become-a-member
*****SIDEBAR*****
Valentine’s Supper to Fun Zone Gala
Museum’s 2024 calendar is packed. Sunday Suppers return February 11 with a Valentine’s Supper. Capper is Annual Big Event at the Balboa Fun Zone, moved up to October 18. Mark your calendar.