Flower show founder Harold Taylor leaves mark on city Growing Legacy

Looking toward the entrance of the grand Spreckels residence (now the Glorietta Bay Inn) from the front gardens.

CORONADO HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

Photographer and Coronado Flower Show founder Harold Taylor

We’re all aware that Coronado has a lot of history, but typically we think of the people who played significant roles in our past as being one-dimensional. It’s easy to forget that these people walked along Orange Avenue, drove down the Strand or rode bikes on Ocean Boulevard.

Harold Taylor is a name I became familiar with while doing research many years ago on the Coronado Flower Show. Taylor was the founder of the Coronado Floral Association and orchestrated the first Coronado Flower Show in 1922. Taylor has continuously popped out of the pages of Coronado history and has become an interesting, multi-dimensional person to me.

Taylor moved with his family from England to Bakersfield in 1896 when he was 18 years old. In 1902, he moved to Yosemite, opening a photographic studio named the Studio of Three Arrows with a partner, Eugene Hallet. Taylor is credited with taking the first iconic photos of Yosemite, and he established himself as a renowned landscape photographer.

By LESLIE CRAWFORD

Harold Taylor is credited with taking the first iconic photos of Yosemite Valley at the turn of the century.

“Being young I used to walk all the trails and carry my photographic outfit which in those days was no small item, 8 x 10 camera, tripod, and glass plates, but I thought nothing of it and often would outwalk the mules,” he once said.

The two partners sold the studio in 1907, and Taylor left Yosemite for Coronado. He set up shop in the Hotel del Coronado for a few years before moving his business into town. While there, he is credited with introducing color photography in 1908 to California.

His work was exhibited around the United States and in Canada. Numerous articles mention his colored slide presentations to organizations throughout Southern California. In addition to landscape portraits, Taylor was also noted for having the most complete photographic collection of the California missions.

Taylor was involved in the San Diego Floral Association for many years and was good friends with the founder, Alfred Robinson. Robinson was an expert on lath houses and was instrumental in the construction of the Botanical Building in Balboa Park for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. (Taylor took many of the 1915 exposition photographs that have been reproduced in books on the subject.) The two men shared a love of horticulture, and traveled around California, Robinson on the hunt for new specimens and Taylor photographing the state’s

landscapes and trees.

As a resident of Coronado for more than 30 years, Taylor left his mark on our town. He formed the Coronado Floral Association in 1922 with his wife, Maud, and sisters Winifred and Constance, staging the city’s first flower show that year. He was the association’s president for the first 10 years and remained active in the organization as long as he lived in Coronado. He was a charter member of the Rotary Club of San Diego in 1911 and the Rotary Club of Coronado in 1926, serving as president of the Coronado chapter from 1929 to 1930. The closest he came to politics was serving on the city’s planning commission. He was also a member of the Pictorial Society of America and on the board of directors for Fine Arts of San Diego.

And he was a hard-working photographer. As a collector of vintage Coronado and San Diego postcards, I have come to realize that many of those colored images were derived from Harold Taylor photographs. He was the chief photographer of the new aviation school on North Island, credited with some of the earliest aviation photos, which were, unfortunately, destroyed during heavy rain damage in his studio.

He photographed Presidents Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Taylor was the only civilian outside of Roosevelt’s circle allowed in the president’s private quarters at the Hotel del Coronado. Other famous figures he captured included Charles Lindbergh, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, as well as celebrities staying at The

Many Coronado postcards are derived from Harold Taylor photos.

Del. When the Duke of Windsor passed through San Diego on his cruise around the world, Taylor photographed many of the events and was invited on board the royal ship, HMS Renown, to continue the documentation.

Not all his projects were so glamorous. His photographs of sports teams and school organizations can be seen through the years in Coronado High School yearbooks.

After a photography career spanning over 40 years, the Taylors retired to El Cajon in 1939 to live out their years working in their garden. His sisters, Constance and Winifred stayed in Coronado, living at 1124 Loma Ave. Harold Taylor passed away in 1960. Constance was the last survivor of the siblings, owning Taylor’s Fine Gifts at 1146 Orange Ave. for many years until she died in 1984.

Harold Taylor’s career in photography was exceptional and he left his legacy in Coronado in so many ways, especially our beloved Coronado Flower Show.

CORONADO FLOWER SHOW

Saturday, April 13 1pm-5pm Sunday, April 14 10am-4pm coronadoflowershow.com

FRIENDS OF THE CORONADO PUBLIC LIBRARY BOOK FAIR

Friday, April 12 (Members Only) 1pm-5pm Saturday, April 13 9am-5pm Sunday, April 14 10am-4pm coronadofol.org

ROTARY PANCAKE BREAKFAST

Sunday, April 14 7am-1pm Village Elementary School on H Avenue