The Wild Quail Dunes: Babcock & Story’s Grand Vision
Two Midwestern visionaries hunt quail on brush-covered dunes and dream of the world’s grandest hotel.
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Key Archival Photograph of the Era
Historic Archive Record
Portrait of New York financier William Henry Aspinwall, founder of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, who co-owned Coronado from 1869 until 1885.
Documented Historical Synthesis
Step #3 Archival ChronicleFollowing the Civil War and the completion of the transcontinental railway to Southern California, San Francisco attorney Archibald Peachy and Pacific Mail Steamship magnate William H. Aspinwall acquired title to Coronado in 1869 for $10,000. They maintained the land for sixteen years as open pasture and game habitat, preserving its untouched coastal beauty.
The modern era of Coronado began in the spring of 1885 when retired Indiana railroad executive Elisha S. Babcock Jr. and Chicago piano manufacturer Hampton L. Story rowed across San Diego Bay to hunt wild quail and jackrabbits. Standing atop the oceanfront dunes overlooking the Pacific, Babcock conceived the audacious vision of erecting a luxury seaside hotel that would become the envy of the Western world.
Babcock and Story quickly secured financial backing, purchasing the entire 4,185-acre peninsula for $110,000 and incorporating the Coronado Beach Company in December 1885. Their ambitious blueprint called for deep-water ferry slips, an electric streetcar railway, fresh water pipelines, and a lavish resort community designed to draw international travelers.
Photographic Suite (3 Archival Photographs)
Record #1 Portrait of William Henry Aspinwall (1807-1875)
Portrait of New York financier William Henry Aspinwall, founder of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, who co-owned Coronado from 1869 until 1885.
Record #2 Bird Eye View of Coronado Beach and San Diego Bay (1888)
Historic Library of Congress panoramic map showing Coronado Beach, the wild ocean dunes, and San Diego Bay where Babcock and Story hunted quail.
Record #3 Founders Elisha Babcock and Hampton Story with the 1885 Plat Map
Victorian founders Elisha Babcock and Hampton Story reviewing the original 1885 Coronado Beach Company townsite plat map and corporate charter.
Chronological Milestones of this Era
3 Recorded Events 1869 Peachy & Aspinwall Acquire Coronado Lands
Archibald Peachy and Pacific Mail Steamship founder William Aspinwall buy the island from Simmons heirs.
1885 Babcock & Story’s Historic Quail Hunt on the Dunes
Two Midwestern gentlemen hunt quail on wild dunes and conceive of building the talk of the Western world.
1885 Formation of the Coronado Beach Company
Babcock, Story, Jacob Gruendike, and Josephus Collett incorporate the development enterprise.
Prominent Figures of This Era
Primary Archival Sources for 1869-1885
- Coronado Historical Association Archival Collection and Photographic Registry
- National Register of Historic Places Documentation and Architectural Surveys
- Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division (Detroit Publishing and HABS)
- San Diego History Center Cartographic and Municipal Archives
Share Chronicle & Academic Citation
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