Rare Coronado Film Footage Gets Digitized 5/19/20

The last two years the Coronado Historical Association has been working with the California State Library to digitize and make accessible archive material in CHA's collection. Thanks to the California State Library's California Revealed program, CHA has recently digitized three historic film reels from a local member. Two of the film reels are advertisements for the Spreckels Sugar Company.

The third film, which is shown above, is particularly special because it contains footage of the Hotel del Coronado and surrounding area in the 1930s. The footage is assumed to be promotional material for the hotel. Some scenes that can be seen in the film footage are clips of the exterior of the Hotel Del, including the tennis courts, pool, turret, and courtyard; interior clips including the Crown Room and the Circus Room; clips of surrounding area include footage of the original Coronado Golf Course, Tent City, the Rainbow Fleet, and a seaplane and Navy ship. The film reel also includes title cards that list local tourist destinations in the greater San Diego area.