San Diego Union July 4, 1910
A century ago Coronado was the epicenter of San Diego County’s Fourth of July celebrations. Tent City, the annual summer resort on the strand below the Hotel del Coronado, hosted Independence Day festivities when the small town of fewer than 1,500 residents would jump to an estimated 20,000 about half the population of San Diego.
Sprawling Tent City, which began in 1900 as Camp Coronado, appealed to middle-class vacationers who found the Hotel del Coronado too expensive. The village of canvas tents and thatched bungalows (rented by the week for $2.75 to $6, depending on the furnishings) featured a bathhouse, an indoor swimming plunge, restaurants, stores, an amusement park (called the Joy Ward), a theater, bandstand and dance pavilion.
Tent City organizers in July 1910 promised a “3-Ring” celebration of sports, music and fireworks. There would be yacht and powerboat racing on the bay, four concerts from Henry Ohlmeyer’s orchestra and a fireworks show at Glorietta Bay.
Read the entire Union Tribune article here.
