THIS MONTH IN CORONADO HISTORY

April 1, 1943

Construction started on First Street to provide housing facilities for 500 WAVE officers and enlisted Navy personnel. Estimated at a cost of $370,000, the barracks, on the bay side of First Street from E Avenue to G Avenue, consisted of seven buildings: three for enlisted WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Services), one each for officers, the dispensary, mess hall, galley and administration building. The grounds included boat landings so the women could be transported by to and from the 11th Naval District.

April 5, 1973

The Coronado office of the California American Water Co. unveiled plans to create a “mini-park” in the 300 block of E Avenue by planting grass and installing a sprinkler system in a vacant lot. The Water Company acquired the land in the 1920s and, at one time, it held an elevated water storage tank. In 1941, the tank was torn down and the storage site moved to C Avenue.

April 7, 1923

It was reported that the world-famous diva Madame Ernestine SchumannHeink purchased the home of Mrs. Harry L. Titus at 800 Orange Ave, which was commissioned in 1910 by the late Harry L. Titus, vice president of the San Diego and Arizona Railway and general attorney for the Spreckels’ interests. The 16-room home was built with reinforced concrete. SchumannHeink was expected to arrive in June to spend summer in Coronado.

April 16, 1930

Four years after John D. Spreckels died, his $37 million estate was finally settled. After creditors, inheritance tax and beneficiaries, which included close friends, loyal confidants and $300,000 to Mercy Hospital, were paid, the remaining $7 million was divided by the Spreckels family. Each of his surviving children — son Claus and daughters Grace and Lillie — received a fourth of the $7 million with the remaining fourth divided between the grand- children who survived his son, John D. Spreckels Jr.

April 24, 1941

Anderson’s Bakery celebrated 30 years in business. Opened by Carl Anderson in 1911, the bakery was under management of his two sons, Clarence and Elwyn (Bud). Carl arrived in Coronado in 1898 to work as a baker at the Hotel Del, where he stayed for 11 years. He built a house F Avenue and in 1909 he opened a shop at the rear of the lot and installed an oven delivering his goods by means of a horse and wagon. In April 1911, the two-story bakery building on Orange Avenue was completed and Coronado Home Bakery opened.

April 25, 1963

The Coronado Surfing Club’s Surf Patrol became the first club of its kind in the nation, according to the United States Surfing Association. Brennan

McClelland, chairman of the USSA Surf Patrol Committee, had attempted to start this type of activity but had never been successful. “Coronado has done it, and we can now point to that city as an example for the rest of the cities and other organizations affiliated with us who have expressed an interest. We now see a way to have the surfers contribute to the welfare of an area in return for surfing privileges” McClelland told the local newspaper.

April 27, 1914

Rabies was identified in a few dogs in Coronado, and a dog muzzling ordinance was enacted by the Board of Health and city trustees. City leaders stated that “all dogs found roaming the streets after that date untagged and unmuzzled will be assumed to be ownerless and will be killed on sight. None will be impounded. If you love your dog it is up to you to protect him.” ■