When it opened in 1888, the Hotel del Coronado was the world’s largest resort hotel. It was the brainchild of businessmen Elisha Babcock and H. L. Story. They had grand visions of rooms built around a courtyard filled with tropical shrubs, trees and flowers.
Located on the beachfront in the city of Coronado, California, just across the bay from San Diego, the hotel’s construction was a massive undertaking. The majestic Victorian building came together in a quick eleven months.
Much of the construction was done by Chinese laborers. Thomas Edison personally supervised the installation of the hotel’s electric lighting system. While President Benjamin Harrison was the first presidential visitor, generations of presidents, dignitaries and celebrities have made their way to what is locally known as the “Del”. Some believe there have even been spectral visitors to the hotel. A room on the third floor is said to be haunted by the ghost of a young woman named Kate Morgan.
Today the hotel is a National Historic Landmark.
Learn more about the history of the Hotel del Coronado in the Richard Fielder papers at UW’s American Heritage Center.