Sixth and Orange is a hub in Coronado, boasting Spreckels Park and the library, as well as the nearby fire station and high school. The original library was opened in 1890 and was located close to the Hotel Del Coronado. The library we know today was opened in 1909 and is located in what was then called West Plaza. Behind the library sits Coronado High School. Coronado earliest schoolhouse dates back to 1887, but the high school was permanently established in facilities with the grammar school, collectively called the Coronado School, in 1913. The grammar school was later renamed Central Elementary School. The upper grades remained at the Coronado School until a separate school building was constructed in 1923 as an independent high school. That building was renovated in 1961, and again in 2006.

Spreckels Park was originally called East Plaza. Elisha Babcock commissioned an adobe house there in 1887-88 to be used as a community building. The building, known as the Old Adobe, included roof tiles that were sourced from the old Mission Viejo and the mission at San Juan Capistrano. The building was used for a variety of City uses, but one special event included when the Old Adobe housed Charles R. Orcutt’s collection of cacti. The collection, claimed to be the second largest cactus collection in the United States with over 500 specimens, was gathered by the naturalist from across Southern California and Baja California. Orcutt was later a founding member of San Diego’s Natural History Museum. The Old Adobe was sadly demolished in 1915.

● Southwest faces: Junior Traffic Patrol boy's party hosted in Spreckels Park. 1939. Coronado Historical Association Collection. Rights reserved.
● East Face: The East Plaza’s Old Adobe featured two-foot-thick walls, a beam ceiling, and a corner fireplace. Date unknown. Coronado Historical Association Collection. Rights reserved.
● North Face: Coronado High School football team. 1923. Coronado Historical Association Collection. Rights reserved.

Art Outside the Box: Take 2 is the second iteration of artful wraps on the Caltrans signal boxes along Orange Avenue in Coronado. This project, a collaboration sponsored by the Coronado Cultural Arts Commission uses historic photographs featuring scenes from the surrounding area which are enhanced graphically with pops of color. The photo selection was completed by Coronado High School interns at the Coronado Historical Association (CHA) using historical images that reside in their collection, and graphics were done by Coronado School of the Arts (CoSA) interns.