Hotel Del Coronado

2020 Words9 Pages
The Hotel del Coronado: The History of the Resort Since it was built in 1888, the Hotel del Coronado has become a modern marvel for its time. With the combination of the hotel’s rare Victorian charm, and its impeccable service, nobody can resist visiting the hotel at every possible chance. But there is more to the hotel than meets the eye. The hotel’s celebrity guest list alone, is a true who’s-who of Hollywood. Even people, who claim to be regular guests of the hotel, would be shocked at how important the hotel truly is. How many people would guess that such a beautifully detailed hotel was made without even complete floor plans? Or, that before the hotel was built, Coronado was merely an uninhabited hunting ground (Hotel del Coronado: An American Treasure with a Storybook Past ch. 1)? So, as you can see, many would agree the Hotel del Coronado is a fabulous resort; but few really understand its role in both the history of the United states, and the development of San Diego itself. The Hotel del Coronado: The Building The hotel may have been built in 1888, however the dream started in 1884, when Elisha Babcock, a thirty-six year-old railroad executive from Indiana, came to a sleepy sea-port, San Diego. With the help of another Midwestern native, H. L. Story, they set to work on their dream, to create a resort that people would travel half way around the world just to see. In 1885, Babcock, Story, and a handful of other partners formed the Coronado Beach Company and purchased the entire island of Coronado for $110,000.00 dollars (ch. 1). After clearing the land, the Coronado Beach Company built roads and divided the land into sections for auctioning. They set up ferries to the island, built telephone lines, and even made an electricity plant in order for Coronado to be completely self-sufficient. In November of 1886, the Coronado Beach Company held an auction

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