Site of Coronado's first mercantile, Mathewson Grocery & General Merchandise Store, at Second Street and Orange Avenue. It then became Pete's Grocery Store, and then Central Liquor Store. The family resided upstairs, and their horses and delivery wagons were stabled in the rear of the building. The Mathewson family will reunite Dec. 2 to dedicate a park bench in their grandfather's honor - A.A. Mathewson. Photo courtesy of the Coronado Public Library.
CORONADO
– The park was originally named “Balogna Park” because it was shaped
like a piece of meat. Most Coronado residents know it incorrectly as
“Pomona Park.” But in 1953 the large grassy area at the corners of
Pomona Avenue, 7th Street and Adella Avenue was officially named
“Mathewson Park” after much-loved Coronado resident, Arthur Adelbert
“Art” Mathewson.
On
Sunday, December 2, at 11 a.m., surviving family members of the
Mathewson family will reunite at Mathewson Park to dedicate a bench and a
plaque to their late grandfather, A.A. Mathewson.
Mayor
Casey Tanaka will be on hand to cut the official ribbon, and read a
Proclamation naming it A.A. Mathewson Day throughout the city of
Coronado. The public is invited to attend.
The
Mathewson Mercantile, located on the corner of Second Street and Orange
Avenue, can be seen on the right. This photo was taken in 1888, from D
Avenue, looking towards the bay. Notice the unpaved roads, the orange
trees on Orange Avenue, and the new ferryboat terminal along the water.
And, as was common in those early days, foot paths ran diagonally across
properties. Photo courtesy of the Coronado Public Library.
The
Mathewson family played a major role in the history of Coronado’s early
years. A.A.’s father, J.A. Mathewson, arrived in San Diego after a long
and harrowing journey by covered wagon from their home in Oneida, NY.
They arrived in San Diego in 1884 and by 1886 had built a commercial
monopoly on Coronado.
They
created Coronado’s first mercantile that year - the J.A. Mathewson
Grocery & General Merchandise Store - and sold food to the
construction workers at the Hotel del Coronado the next year from a tent
on the grounds. Prior to that, residents of Coronado had to take the
ferryboat to San Diego to shop at Marston’s Grocery Store.
In
1900 Mathewson established a major presence at Tent City and later
built a two-story mercantile on the corner of Second Street and Orange
Avenue. The family resided upstairs and kept their horses and delivery
wagons in the rear. There were two other Mathewson stores before long –
one in the 200 block of Orange Avenue, and one in the 1300 block.
A.A.
Mathewson was the first graduate of Coronado High School (1902). He was
the only graduate, according to his granddaughter Emma Sweeney, of New
York, who is orchestrating the park dedication from the East Coast. She
also remembered her mother telling how the Mathewson family had
Coronado’s first telephone.
“It’s
long been the hope of our family,” said Sweeney, “that we would one day
plant a tree or dedicate a bench to our grandfather, who was so
important to the early development of Coronado and the people who lived
here, and a man who meant so much to us.”
A.A.
Mathewson, Coronado’s first “Mister Coronado.” He was also Coronado’s
first high school graduate, and one of the island's most beloved
individuals. A bench will be dedicated in his memory Dec. 2. Photo courtesy of the Coronado Public Library.
A.A.
married Sweeney’s namesake, Emma Reinert, in 1910. She was secretary to
Ulysses S. Grant, Jr. at the time. A.A. went on to found the Coronado
Masonic Lodge in 1914 and served as their Master the following year.
He
served on the Coronado School Board from 1922 - 1938, but was heralded
for his long tenure working with the City of Coronado, first as City
Treasurer (1914 - 1932) and then as City Clerk (1932 - 1957).
While
working as City Clerk, A.A. created the popular policy of issuing
special paperwork to the parents of all newborn babies that said:
"Dear Baby: Believing that a Certificate of Birth is an important document in one’s life, we hand you a true record of that event with the compliments of the City of Coronado and its best wishes for a long and happy life.
Yours very truly,
A.A. Mathewson, City Clerk,
The Local Registrar of Vital Statistics"
Mathewson
was so popular that he was known all over Coronado as “Honorary Mayor.”
In 1955 he was officially honored with the title of Coronado’s very
first “Mister Coronado.” At the time of his death in 1960 (at the age of
75) he had lived in Coronado longer than any other person at that time –
73 years.
“The
bench dedication means an awful lot to us,” said Emma Sweeney. “We’re
flying in from all over the country to be there for the ribbon cutting,
and we’re very grateful to the Mayor and the City of Coronado for all
their help. My brother Bill died recently, and we’re dedicating the
bench in our grandfather’s memory, from my brother, William A. Sweeney.”
The
bench dedication will be a small, informal affair with a dozen or so
family and friends. The community is invited to attend. It takes place
Sunday, Dec. 2, at 11 a.m.
This story was produced by Joe Ditler and Part-Time PR,
serving all of Coronado's publicity needs.
For more information call 619.435.0767
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