LOOKING BACK

A postcard of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park includes the Sacramento Valley Building, which bordered the Plaza de Panama.

THIS MONTH IN CORONADO HISTORY

Jan. 18, 1913

For the preplanning stages of the Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park, which opened in January 1915, officials from Sacramento came to San Diego to choose the site of the Sacramento Valley building on the exposition grounds. Visitors were wined and dined at Hotel del Coronado.

Jan. 26, 1923

W. F. Holland, proprietor of the Coronado Paint and Hardware Co., opened his newest store at the corner of Tenth Street and Orange Avenue. Simply known as “Holland’s,” the store offered paint, hardware and a large stock of bicycles. Holland also sold pianos, phonographs, records and sheet music, as a subsidiary of the Thearle Music Co. in San Diego. When asked why his store carried such a diverse inventory, Holland replied, “Paint makes things more beautiful in the world. Bicycles give us vim and vigor and a thin waistline. Music soothes the mind and gives pleasure to guide us through the dance.”

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS / DETROIT PUBLISHING CO. COLLECTION

Jan. 17, 1933

The enlisted Army personnel at

Rockwell Field moved into recently completed “bungalows” built from salvaged material. Constructed with tent frames that were boarded over, screened and topped with tar-papered roofs, the four-man buildings were more comfortable than tents.

Jan. 14, 1943

“Buy Bonds for a Bomber to be Named ‘The City of Coronado!’ ” was the slogan for the most intensive war bond drive conducted by the Coronado War Savings committee. It was part of the San Diego County War Committee’s goal to buy an entire squadron of Consolidated B-24 bombers, which would be named for communities throughout the county. Coronado’s aim was to sell $100,000 in bonds to assure “City of Coronado” was inscribed on the nose of a B-24.

Jan. 29, 1953

Guest houses, estimated to be about 100 around Coronado, were the subject of a joint conference between the City Council and Planning Commission. Councilman Walter Vestal said it was grossly unfair to tell homeowners that they cannot build a guest house on the back of their lot when a neighbor had illegally erected one next door. Planning Chairman Byron Johnson remarked that some of the guest houses were built before any ordinances restricting them were adopted. City Manager Glenn Wade explained the crux of the problem is in policing. All agreed there was no easy solution to the problem.

Jan. 10, 1963

The 90th birthday of Maude Lancaster was celebrated at Kippys clothing store. Cake and punch were served at the open house. Lancaster, one of Coronado’s most distinguished citizens, opened the city’s first hospital in 1926. She administered the facility on Orange Avenue for 15 years, until a larger hospital was opened in 1942.

Jan. 17, 1983

Protective scaffolding went up around the Reid Hotel at Orange and B avenues. Plans called for the 70-year-old structure, one of the city’s first major commercial buildings, to be leveled and replaced by a two-story Bank of America building. The original one-story structure was built in 1912 by Arizona cattleman Frank Moson, according to local historian Katherine Carlin. It was designed with distinctive arches. Occupying the retail spaces in the early days of the building were Coronado Dry Goods, photographer Lou Goodale Bigelow, Roy Burge’s barbershop, and a restaurant on the B avenue corner where Dick Klass “made the best hamburger in town.” Later, the arches were removed and a second story was added for the Reid Hotel, Carlin recalled. ■