Previously a question regarding the mystery of R.H. Dana Place has been advanced. Why was the stretch of road next to the Hotel Del between Orange and Ocean named R.H. Dana Place? Well, an answer has been found, and oddly, it began with a problem regarding phones! You see, in the 1920s directions given over the phone were sometimes confusing when referring to streets in town that had only letter names, like E, D and C. (Also some didn’t like the similarity to “undesirable” cities in the east which used letter names for streets). In 1930 the city council debated changing letters to full names during various meetings throughout the year. The idea was eventually dropped.
At the same time, however, changing the name of Ada Place to R. H. Dana place was proposed by city council member Alfred Brooks Fry (pictured above), and on January 19, 1931 it was done. He did so to honor Richard Henry Dana Jr.’s memory, and because the street to be named after him overlooked ballast point, and the area where Dana lived and many of his activities took place during his two year journey to the California coast in the 1830’s. These events were chronicled in Dana’s renowned book “Two Years Before the Mast“.
Interestingly council member Fry was also a distinguished maritimer from the east coast, a one time aide to the governor of New York, and himself a seaman who served as a Rear Admiral and commander of the New York State Naval Militia before coming to Coronado. He was elected Mayor of Coronado In 1931, and died in office in 1933, leaving a remarkable legacy.
His address to the Coronado City Council concerning Dana included the following: 
Today Richard Henry Dana Jr.’s history is coming to life again with the naming of the R.H. Dana garden patio across from the Hotel Del on Dana Place, and the recent addition of a new sculpture of Dana at the Dan McGeorge Gallery. The beautiful sculpture by Lynne Forbes of Carlsbad, CA captures the essence of Richard Henry Dana Jr.
Richard Henry Dana Jr. Only three sculptures of Dana exist, one at Dana Point, one at the American Merchant Marine Museum located on the grounds of the United States Merchant Marine Academy in King’s Point New York, and one here in Coronado at the Dan McGeorge Gallery. As a lawyer and diplomat Dana championed the cause of fugitive slaves, men at sea, and the downtrodden.
Pictured at top Commodore Alfred Brooks Fry. Past city council member and mayor of Coronado, Fry’s own vision and his love of maritime history and the sea inspired him to recommend naming R.H. Dana Place after Richard Henry Dana Jr.
