Elisha Spurr Babcock (May 1, 1848 – September 1, 1922) was an industrialist,

tycoon A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

, businessman, and entrepreneur. He is most famous for founding the

Hotel del Coronado Hotel del Coronado, also known as The Del and Hotel Del, is a historic beachfront hotel in the city of Coronado, just across the San Diego Bay from San Diego, California. A rare surviving example of an American architectural genre—the wooden V ...

Biography

Born to businessman Elisha Spurr Babcock Sr. (born 1815 at

Utica, NY Utica () is a city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 U.S. Census. Located on the Mohawk River at the foot ...

, settled in

Evansville Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in S ...

in 1838), and Agnes Southerland Davidson, a

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

native. They had eight children; Oliver, Louisa, Elisha Spurr Jr., William D., Edgar, Frank, Amelia and John. Elisha Spurr Babcock Sr. shut his business in Evansville and went to

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

in 1887.A History of Evansville and Vanderburgh County, Indiana, Joseph Peter Elliott, 1897 E. S. Babcock Jr. was born on May 1, 1848 in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

where he was raised, he graduated from Evansville High School. From the outset of his career he was active in business and started many business ventures. Babcock's first job was with the

Evansville and Terre Haute Railroad Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in S ...

, commencing as a freight clerk at the Evansville depot, and working himself up to the position of general freight agent of the road. Eventually Babcock left the railroad service to engage in developing the

Bell Telephone Company The Bell Telephone Company, a common law joint stock company, was organized in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 9, 1877, by Alexander Graham Bell's father-in-law Gardiner Greene Hubbard, who also helped organize a sister company – the New Englan ...

, which controlled a large territory extending from Evansville to New Orleans; at the same time he held sole ownership of the Eugene Ice Company, with some five large houses and a number of agencies, and was a partner in the firm of E. S. Babcock & Son. It is generally thought that Babcock became acquainted with

Charles T. Hinde Charles T. Hinde (July 12, 1832 – March 10, 1915) was an American industrialist, tycoon, riverboat captain, businessman, and entrepreneur. He managed many businesses and invested in numerous business ventures over the course of his life. ...

in Evansville during the 1870s. He died on September 1, 1922. He was married to Isabella Graham Babcock (died 1932).

Hotel del Coronado

Originally Babcock came to southern California to regain his health, but when he sensed opportunity he established the Coronado Beach Company and began planning massive real estate investments. Using his training as a civil engineer he planned the construction of dams for water, and the

. Babcock and partners bought the land for $110,000 in 1885. However, the economy began to struggle and Babcock summoned his good friend

to come and help him save his investments. Through some luck

John D. Spreckels John Diedrich Spreckels (August 16, 1853 – June 7, 1926), the son of German-American industrialist Claus Spreckels, founded a transportation and real estate empire in San Diego, California, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The entrepr ...

decided to invest in the Santa Fe wharf in San Diego, the Hotel del Coronado, and purchase the dams. Later, Babcock, Hinde, and Spreckels, founded the Spreckels Brothers Commercial Company. Babcock gave the William E. Ritter's "Marine Biological Association of San Diego", which later became the

Scripps Institution of Oceanography The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (sometimes referred to as SIO, Scripps Oceanography, or Scripps) in San Diego, California, US founded in 1903, is one of the oldest and largest centers for oceanography, ocean and Earth science research ...

, the use of Hotel Del's boathouse as a summer laboratory from 1903 to 1903.

References

External links

E. S. Babcock at findagrave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Babcock, E. S. 1848 births 1922 deaths American real estate businesspeople American people in rail transportation Businesspeople from San Diego History of San Diego People from Evansville, Indiana 19th-century American Episcopalians American hoteliers American restaurateurs Burials at Mount Hope Cemetery (San Diego)