Charles T. Hinde (July 12, 1832 – March 10, 1915) was an American industrialist, tycoon, riverboat captain, businessman, and entrepreneur.

Hinde served in executive leadership positions in the river navigation, shipping, railroad, and hotel businesses.

Hinde vastly increased his personal fortune during his time in southern California, and he helped spur the economy of the region.

Towards the end of his life he donated much of his wealth to further various projects in the Californian city of Coronado and its surrounding area, some dedicated to the memory of his daughter Camilla, who died in Evansville, Indiana, at the age of 13.

During the early years of Hinde's life the family was constantly on the move, because his father was a circuit preacher of the Methodist faith and was speculating in military real estate in the territories purchased from the Native Americans by Willam Henry Harrison.

Eventually, Hinde's father purchased a large tract of land in southern Illinois where he founded a town and settled with his family.

Hinde attended elementary and middle school in Mount Carmel, Illinois, a town his father founded in 1815.

A portion of the family land was located on the Wabash River and included Hanging Rock and the Grand Rapids Dam.

[3] Hinde's first employment in river transportation was as a clerk on a boat that operated between St. Louis, Missouri, and St. Paul, Minnesota.

[4] Hinde sold his interests in the business shortly after its creation and moved his family to Evansville, Indiana, where he became acquainted with E. S. Babcock and the Reid Brothers.

Shortly before he received an invitation from E. S. Babcock to move to Coronado, California, Hinde's only child, Camilla, died in Evansville at the age of 13.

[5] Babcock had founded the Hotel del Coronado and several large companies, and invited Hinde to invest and help manage his business interests.

The company also undertook numerous other investments in the Coronado area,[11] but their plans were interrupted by the Panic of 1893, a severe recession and bank run caused by a bubble in the railroad business.

He funded the construction of Christ Episcopal Church in Coronado, together with its parish center and rectory, all dedicated to his deceased daughter, Camilla.

[17] His estate papers show that in addition to his other businesses, Hinde was a part-owner of the Los Angeles-based Global Grain & Milling Company, founded in 1898 and run by Will E.