BajaNomad

Al Capone invested in the Coronado Islands

bacquito - 11-4-2013 at 07:26 AM

http://www.ensenada.net/noticias/nota_CU.php?id=31767

Interesting.

Sorry I do not know how to copy and paste translated articles.

DENNIS - 11-4-2013 at 08:13 AM

Here ya go, Roger:
=============================
Article posted November 4, 2013
by José Luis Fernández Ruiz

Compiled by José Luis Fernández Ruiz
A Trip to California Coastal Editorial

Marco Antonio Peyrot Gonzalez page 5, 1968 .



Cabrillo was the first one to notice. Surpassed his predecessors in his explorations northward reaching the bay of San Francisco .
NNW of cedars 220 miles found a small archipelago called crowned islands consist of four islands of which the first and last merit the name of the intermediate islands and islets by cliffs or .
From afar seem completely dry , but the approach is perceived small covered ground herbs survive contact the mist. Only during the rainy season and bloom green again .

The islands have always been abandoned but during the 1920 season that the group consisting of Al Capone , and Fred Hamilton with U.S. government permission or not, invested a lot of dollars to build a wooden hotel sustained in beach cliffs supported in a hollow of the cliff , which probably had to drill with dynamite.
When opened hotel located SE of a small creek called caves harbor ; should attract a lot of tourists from San Diego eager to enjoy the abundance of amusements offered this Mexican island as refuge near Prohibition .

No doubt that tourists gleefully throwing the assault of the long bar at the third floor , where there was also dancing and other entertainment . Whoever wanted could spend the weekend in one of the 30 quarters that had the casino.
At the end of the casino Prohibition lost its reason for its importance gradually decreased until finally the hotel was abandoned.

In 1929 the army occupied the island with a party under the command of an officer. The supply ships carried the headlights and soldiers guard settled in this hotel presumably AL Capone ,

In 1931 the department of maritime works Merchant Marine Directorate of the Ministry of Communications and Public Works built two illuminated signs and houses for soldiers and save lighthouses. In 1952 the departure of the army was relieved by elements of the Navy and all constructions inherited .

David K - 11-4-2013 at 04:23 PM

More fun filled factoids... any Scientologists out there?:

In May 1943 the U.S. Navy's USS PC-815, commanded by L. Ron Hubbard, conducted unauthorized gunnery exercises involving the shelling of the Coronado Islands, in the belief they were uninhabited and belonged to the United States. Unfortunately for Hubbard, the islands belonged to Mexico and were occupied by the Mexican Coast Guard. The Mexican government complained and Hubbard was relieved of command.

More in a Nomad thread, including a 1970's photo posted by Baja Warrior: http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=53093

Here is a photo of the casino about 1935:



Sign On San Diego said this in 2009:

Perhaps the most successful enterprise was the casino. The two-story structure on South Island was the brainchild of Mariano Escobedo, builder of Tijuana's jai alai fronton, and Fred Hamilton, a San Diego lumber merchant. Their plans to draw alcohol-parched punters, though, were quickly scuttled. By the time they opened the casino in the summer of 1933, Prohibition had been repealed. The next year, Mexico banned casino gambling; the Coronado Islands Yacht Club closed that December.