Nestled along the picturesque shores of Coronado lies a tale of summer escapades and seaside wonders that once captivated the hearts of locals and travelers alike. It’s a story that harkens back to a bygone era, a place where dreams intertwined with reality under the warmth of the southern California sun: Tent City.
Amid the opulent splendor of the Hotel del Coronado, which opened in 1888, business partner of San Francisco industrialist millionaire John D. Spreckels, Elisha Spurr Babcock Jr., envisioned a haven for summer revelers.
Hotel del Coronado’s Heritage Manager Gina Petrone said Babcock operated the hotel from 1888 until he retired in 1904, and “consulted very much with Spreckels,” who was the primary investor.
Spreckels, heir to a Hawaiian sugar fortune, became a real estate and transportation magnate in the late 1800s and has been credited with transforming San Diego from a bankrupt town to a cosmopolitan city.
In the late nineteenth century, Babcock went to Catalina Island to look at rock quarries because he was building dams in San Diego. During his visit, he saw Catalina’s tent city: Avalon.
“He was so inspired,” Petrone said. “Immediately Babcock started writing [Spreckels] and saying ‘I think this would be huge. These are cheaper accommodations for people, I think it will build our summer business.’”
Tent City was born
Thus, Tent City was born. While the Hotel Del attracted wealthy clientele, Babcock envisioned Tent City as an opportunity for middle-class travelers to enjoy Coronado’s summer activities.
With its roots planted in 1899, Tent City quickly blossomed into an expansion south of the Hotel Del, full of tents and cottages, where more travelers could stay.
“[Tent City] ended up being this marvelous extension of the Hotel Del, at least in terms of activities, and a wonderful place to stay that fit one’s budget,” Coronado Historical Association’s collections volunteer Kimball Worcester said. “Ultimately, it was a very smart business move to have these opportunities that were an economic range for people to draw in more business and visitors.”
Carloads of dirt and gravel were transported from across Coronado Island, later to be leveled and graded to create an area around one mile long and 600 yards wide that stretched between San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean.
Around 300 single-room tents were installed and furnished — mostly via Hotel Del hand-me-downs — with beds, mirrors, tables, chairs, washing stands and calico curtains. The tents, which could hold up to seven people, were rented for 50 cents per day (that would amount to $36.72 in today’s dollars).
The layout of Tent City comprised a Main Street leading to side streets and alleys. The Hotel Del’s generator powered the area, while a sewer system facilitated plumbing for community toilets. Trolley tracks were extended to provide direct access from the ferry landing to the campground.
The official grand opening
June 10, 1900, marked the grand opening of Tent City, drawing an enthusiastic crowd of 1,000. The San Diego City Guard Band performed while visitors explored the campground. Tent City offered a variety of cultural and entertainment activities, including croquet, merry-go-rounds, candy sheds and bowling alleys.
The dance and band pavilion, topped with a cupola, was completed shortly after Tent City’s official opening. The inaugural dance took place on Saturday night, June 30, 1900. There also was a two-story arcade with a grocery store, office, reading room and a couple of hotel-style rooms.
The first Fourth of July celebration, in 1900, drew an estimated crowd of 10,000, becoming an annual highlight on Coronado’s calendar. Fireworks lit up Glorietta Bay, viewed by spectators on shore and in canoes and rowboats decked with Japanese lanterns.
As that summer season commenced, construction began on a children’s pool located on the bayside, where the present-day Coronado Women’s Golf Club stands. It costed $3,000 and took two years to complete; the pool measured 100 feet long by 75 feet wide. Dubbed “Spreckels’ Bathtub,” it featured a continuous flow of seawater with depths ranging from a few inches to three or four feet.
By June 1901, twice as many tents were open. The Pavilion expanded threefold, featuring a theater and upscale restaurant downstairs. Upstairs, a bandstand hosted free concerts daily. Tent City grew in popularity, leading to additions and conversion of the Silvergate ferry — the first boat in California to have propellers — into a floating casino.
Popularity extended beyond California
A July 15, 1903 edition of the Coronado Tent City Daily Program noted that the popularity of Tent City extended beyond California, with a significant presence of Arizona residents. The report highlighted a notable increase in visitors from states such as Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado and Texas compared to previous summers.
According to Joe Ditler, a local historian and the former director of the Coronado Historical Association, vacationers could also arrange to stay in the same tent for their future visits to Tent City.
In 1910, the Silvergate Casino was sold to the San Diego Yacht Club and a new dance pavilion replaced it, which cost $30,000 to build. Palm cottages with wooden frames became available, offering amenities like indoor water and costing around $12 to rent per week.
During the summer of 1914, as World War I erupted, Tent City experienced a peak of 10,000 guests. Over the following years, soldiers joined vacationers, and patriotic events became prominent. Military balls and band performances with patriotic themes were common. Austrian-American contralto Madame Schumann-Heink held a concert attended by 16,000 people at the band pavilion, with all proceeds supporting the Allied war effort.
End of an era
In 1926, Spreckels’ passing marked the end of an era.
In the 1930s, America’s economy was ravaged by the Great Depression and guests began to complain about conditions in the tents, including sand fleas and cockroaches, signaling further decline. Permanent wooden cottages were erected but couldn’t revive the fading lifestyle. The rise of automobile travel drew people away from the traditional trolley or streetcar routes to Tent City.
In 1939, Tent City closed with little fanfare. Permanent buildings, like the arcade and dance pavilion, were dismantled, their materials repurposed elsewhere.
The cottages and wooden cabins were sold and relocated to Imperial Beach, Chula Vista, National City and Julian to be used as summer homes. The end of Tent City symbolized a shift in lifestyle preferences, as the allure of coastal retreats waned in favor of modern conveniences and mobility.
“You cannot overestimate Spreckels’ effect on Coronado. What made Coronado its own little community wasn’t just a hotel on an island, it was its own place,” Worcester said. “Even before the Navy had its own establishment here, people just came to Coronado because it was a nice place to live. Or they had visited the Hotel Del and thought, ‘I’m going to live here.’”
Tent cities were located across the nation, but specifically in California, there were ones located in Long Beach, Santa Cruz and Catalina Island, according to Petrone.
“I believe [Coronado’s] Tent City was the longest-lasting one, and that is because our guests mingled freely between the hotel and Tent City,” Petrone said. “It was just a very symbiotic relationship between the two properties. The fact that it lasted as long as it did … certainly had to do with Sprekels’s investment in it, and his wanting to benefit the community. This was another attraction that helped make Coronado what it is today.”
The story is based on research and insights provided by Joe Ditler, drawing from his tenure from 2005 to 2008 as the executive director of the Coronado Historical Association. Information also was drawn from Nancy Cobb, Gerry McCartee and Gina Petrone. More of Ditler’s research on Tent City can be found on his YouTube.
