Balboa Island’s long-gone bank

Lolita Harper

In the center of a bustling little island, a banking tradition was

born.

Balboa Bank was opened Sept. 27, 1922, by George Edwards on the

northeast corner of Central Avenue, which is now Balboa Avenue,

Balboa historian Jim Fournier said. The bank stood at that location,

now occupied by Pavilion Real Estate for six years, until a new

building was built kitty-cornered to accommodate the newly organized

and prominent bank.

In 1927, the bank restructured its board of directors to “read

like a who’s who of Balboa,” said Fournier, who is also the editor

and chief of the newsletter Tales of Balboa.

The bank was successful through the roaring and lucrative ‘20s,

but met its fate in 1932, during the Great Depression. Wrongdoing by

the bank directors was never considered, Fournier said, and all of

the bank’s depositors received fair market value for their accounts.

State law required any failing bank to be assessed at 100% of the

cost of their stock.

Bank officers lost not only their investments, but had to pay that

amount to the state as well, Fournier said, which doubled their

losses.

Fournier said officers Charles TeWinkle and Joe Beek were the only

men able to pay the assessments.

In 1934, the building was sold to Bank of America for $27,000, he

said. The large bank chain had a good run in the location for a half

century, leaving in the mid-1980s.

A local restaurant owner bought the landmark in hopes of turning

it into a restaurant and bar, but found opposition from the

neighboring condominiums.

“They raised a fit and blocked the liquor license,” Fournier said.

The business owner walked away from the struggling project, and

the building was ultimately destroyed.

Modern storefronts and apartments now stand in its place.

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