Place:Palm Springs, Riverside, California, United States

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NamePalm Springs
Alt namesAgua Calientesource: Encyclopædia Britannica (1988) IV, 91
TypeCity
Coordinates33.824°N 116.53°W
Located inRiverside, California, United States     (1790 - )
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Palm Springs (Cahuilla: Séc-he) is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land area. With multiple plots in checkerboard pattern, more than 10% of the city is part of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians reservation land and is the administrative capital of the most populated reservation in California.

Although the population of Palm Springs was 44,575 as of the 2020 census, because Palm Springs is a retirement location, as well as a winter snowbird destination, the city's population triples between November and March.

The city is noted for its mid-century modern architecture, design elements, arts and cultural scene, and recreational activities.

Contents

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Founding

Pre-colonial history

The first humans to settle in the area were the Cahuilla people, who arrived 2,000 years ago. Cahuilla Indians lived here in isolation from other cultures for hundreds of years prior to European contact. They spoke Ivilyuat, which is a Uto-Aztecan language. Numerous prominent and powerful Cahuilla leaders were from Palm Springs, including Cahuilla Lion (Chief Juan Antonio). While Palm Canyon was occupied during winter months, they often moved to cooler Chino Canyon during the summer months.

The Cahuilla Indians had several permanent settlements in the canyons of Palm Springs, due to the abundance of water and shade. Various hot springs were used during wintertime. The Cahuilla hunted rabbit, mountain goat and quail, while also trapping fish in nearby lakes and rivers. While men were responsible for hunting, women were responsible for collecting berries, acorns and seeds. They also made tortillas from mesquite beans.[1] While the Cahuillas often spent the summers in Indian Canyons, the current site of Spa Resort Casino in downtown was often used during winter due to its natural hot springs.[2]

Native American petroglyphs can be seen in Tahquitz, Chino, and Indian Canyons. The Cahuilla's irrigation ditches, dams and house pits can also be seen here. Ancient petroglyphs, pictographs and mortar holes can be seen in Andreas Canyon. The mortar holes were used to grind acorns into meals.

The Agua Caliente ("Hot Water") Reservation was established in 1876 and consists of . are located by Downtown Palm Springs. The Native American land is on long lease land and next to one of California's high-end communities, making the tribe one of the wealthiest in California.

The first name for Palm Springs was given by the native Cahuilla: "Se-Khi" (boiling water). When the Agua Caliente Reservation was established by the United States government in 1876, the reservation land was composed of alternating sections of land laid out across the desert in a checkerboard pattern. The alternating non-reservation sections were granted to the Southern Pacific Railroad as an incentive to bring rail lines through the Sonoran Desert.

A number of streets and areas in Palm Springs are named for Native-American notables, including Andreas, Arenas, Amado, Belardo, Lugo, Patencio, Saturnino and Chino. All of these are common Cahuilla surnames.[2]

Presently the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians are composed of several smaller bands who live in the modern day Coachella Valley and San Gorgonio Pass. The Agua Caliente Reservation occupies , of which lie within the city limits, making the Agua Caliente natives the city's largest landowners. (Tribal enrollment as of 2010 was 410 people.)

Mexican explorers

As of 1821 Mexico was independent of Spain and in March 1823 the Mexican Monarchy ended. That same year (in December) Mexican diarist José María Estudillo and Brevet Captain José Romero were sent to find a route from Sonora to Alta California; on their expedition they first recorded the existence of "Agua Caliente" at Palm Springs, California.[3] With the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo after the Mexican-American war, the region became part of the United States in 1848.

Later 19th century

Early names and European settlers

One possible origin of palm in the place name comes from early Spanish explorers who referred to the area as La Palma de la Mano de Dios or "The Palm of God's hand". The earliest use of the name "Palm Springs" is from United States Topographical Engineers who used the term in 1853 maps. According to William Bright, when the word "palm" appears in Californian place names, it usually refers to the native California fan palm, Washingtonia filifera, which is abundant in the Palm Springs area. Other early names were "Palmetto Spring" and "Big Palm Springs".

The first European resident in Palm Springs itself was Jack Summers, who ran the stagecoach station on the Bradshaw Trail in 1862.[4] Fourteen years later (1876), the Southern Pacific railroad was laid to the north, isolating the station.[4] In 1880, local Indian Pedro Chino was selling parcels near the springs to William Van Slyke and Mathew Bryne in a series of questionable transactions; they in turn brought in W. R. Porter to help market their property through the "Palm City Land and Water Company".[5] By 1885, when San Francisco attorney (later known as "Judge") John Guthrie McCallum began buying property in Palm Springs, the name was already in wide acceptance. The area was named "Palm Valley" when McCallum incorporated the "Palm Valley Land and Water Company" with partners O.C. Miller, H.C. Campbell, and James Adams, M.D.[5]

Land development and drought

McCallum, who had brought his ill son to the dry climate for health, brought in irrigation advocate Dr. Oliver Wozencroft and engineer J. P. Lippincott to help construct a canal from the Whitewater River to fruit orchards on his property.[5] He also asked Dr. Welwood Murray to establish a hotel across the street from his residence. Murray did so in 1886 (he later became a famous horticulturalist).[5] The crops and irrigation systems suffered flooding in 1893 from record rainfall, and then an 11-year drought (1894–1905) caused further damage.[3]

20th century

Resort development

The city became a fashionable resort in the 1900s when health tourists arrived with conditions that required dry heat. Because of the heat, however, the population dropped markedly in the summer months. In 1906 naturalist and travel writer George Wharton James's two volume The Wonders of the Colorado Desert described Palm Springs as having "great charms and attractiveness"[6] and included an account of his stay at Murray's hotel. As James also described, Palm Springs was more comfortable in its microclimate because the area was covered in the shadow of Mount San Jacinto to the west[7] and in the winter the mountains block cold winds from the San Gorgonio pass. Early illustrious visitors included John Muir and his daughters, U.S. Vice President Charles Fairbanks, and Fanny Stevenson, widow of Robert Louis Stevenson; still, Murray's hotel was closed in 1909 and torn down in 1954.[3]

Nellie N. Coffman and her physician husband Harry established The Desert Inn as a hotel and sanitarium in 1909. It was expanded as a modern hotel in 1927 and continued on until 1967.[3][8] Coffman herself was a "driving force" in the city's tourism industry until her death in 1950.

James's Wonders of the Colorado Desert (above) was followed in 1920 by J. Smeaton Chase's Our Araby: Palm Springs and the Garden of the Sun, which also promoted the area.[9] In 1924 Pearl McCallum (daughter of Judge McCallum) returned to Palm Springs and built the Oasis Hotel with her husband Austin G. McManus; the Modern/Art Deco resort was designed by Lloyd Wright and featured a tower.[3][10] The next major hotel was the El Mirador, a large and luxurious resort that attracted the biggest movie stars; opening in 1927, its prominent feature was a Renaissance style tower.[3] Silent film star Fritzi Ridgeway's 100-room Hotel del Tahquitz was built in 1929, next to the "Fool's Folly" mansion built by Chicago heiress Lois Kellogg. Golfing was available at the O'Donnell 9 hole course (1926) and the El Mirador (1929) course (see Golf below). Hollywood movie stars were attracted by the hot dry, sunny weather and seclusion—they built homes and estates in the Warm Sands, The Mesa, and Historic Tennis Club neighborhoods (see Neighborhoods below). About 20,000 visitors came to the area in 1922.

Palm Springs became popular with movie stars in the 1930s and estate building expanded into the Movie Colony neighborhoods, Tahquitz River Estates, and Las Palmas neighborhoods. Actors Charles Farrell and Ralph Bellamy opened the Racquet Club in 1934[3][11][12] and Pearl McCallum opened the Tennis Club in 1937.[10] Nightclubs were set up as well, with Al Wertheimer opening The Dunes outside of Palm Springs in 1934[3] and the Chi Chi nightclub opening in 1936. Besides the gambling available at the Dunes Club, other casinos included The 139 Club and The Cove Club outside of the city.

Table of resorts

Pre-World War II Coachella Valley Resorts and Hotels
Name City Year established Year closed/
demolished
Notes and references
Agua Caliente Bathhouse Palm Springs 1880s Present day Commercial use since the 1880s; bathhouse constructed 1916; site is now the Agua Caliente Spa Resort Casino, built in 1963[13]
Southern Pacific Indio depot Indio 1880s 1966
(burned down)
Contained a "rough resort/hotel"
Hotel and tent houses Palm Springs 1910s Unknown Operated by David Manley Blanchard (tent houses in the late 1800s)[13]
Hotel Indio Indio 1925 2004 (burned) Opened by E.R. Cooper; had 60 rooms (40 with baths)
La Quinta Hotel La Quinta 1927 Present day Built by William Morgan; designed by Gordon Kaufmann; now the La Quinta Resort and Club
Goff Hotel Palm Springs
Pepper Tree Inn Palm Springs 1924 Also described as the Dr. Reid's Sanitarium/Matthews-Andrea-Pepper Tree Inn[14]
Ramona Hotel Palm Springs 1910s Renamed in 1921 as the Palm Springs Hotel by the Foldesy family, although not related to original Palm Spring Hotel
Sunshine Court Palm Springs 1920s 2000s (razed) Built by Dr. J. J. Crocker and used by golfers at the O'Donnell Golf Club[15]
Hotel La Palma Palm Springs 1910s Depicted on Palm Canyon Drive in late teens/early 1920s;[16] later became the El Ray Hotel, and then razed when Chi Chi nightclub was built in 1936[13]
The Orchid Tree Inn Palm Springs 1934 Present day 45 rooms[3]
Estrella Resort and Spa Palm Springs 1933 Present day Now the Viceroy Palm Springs; 74 rooms[3]
Ingleside Inn Palm Springs 1935 Present day Original estate built in the 1920s, and operated as the Ingleside Inn by Ruth Hardy. It was later owned and operated by Mel Haber, who died on October 25, 2016, and is now owned and managed by PlumpJack Investment Group, started by Gavin Newsom in 1992. It is currently overseen by Newsom's sister Hilary.
Palm Springs Tennis Club Palm Springs 1937 Present day Area is now the Tennis Club Condominiums[15]
La Bella Villas Palm Springs 1939 Present day Six Southwest-style villas[3]
Desert Hot Springs Mineral Bathhouse Desert Hot Springs 1941 Demolished Developed by L.W. & Lillian T. Coffee; burned in 1947 and rebuilt
The Oasis Hotel Palm Springs 1925 Present day Built on grounds owned by the late John Gutherie McCallum; concrete structure designed by Lloyd Wright
Hotel del Tahquitz Palm Springs 1929 1958 Built by movie star Fritzi Ridgeway; had 100 rooms
Deep Well Guest Ranch Palm Springs 1929 1948 Operated by Frank and Melba Bennet; converted to housing development[3]
Smoke Tree Ranch Palm Springs 1925 Present day [15]
Monte Vista Apartments Palm Springs 1921 2005 Operated as a hotel by John and Freda Miller, and then their sons, Frank and John.[17]
El Mirador Hotel Palm Springs 1927 (converted) Had 200+ rooms; went bankrupt in 1930, bought by new owners; later taken over and converted into the Army Torney General Hospital in 1942; reopened as a hotel in 1952; became the Desert Regional Medical Center in 1972. Popular destination for Hollywood elite and other celebrities.
The Desert Inn Palm Springs 1909 1967 Built by Nellie Coffman; originally a tent-house resort and sanitarium, developed into 35 buildings and bungalows; owned by actress Marion Davies from 1955 to 1960; original building demolished in 1960; officially closed in 1953.[14] Child actress Shirley Temple was a frequent and publicized guest.
Colonial House Palm Springs 1936 Present day With 56 rooms, was built by Purple Gang member Al Wertheimer with a reputed speakeasy and brothel; once known as the Howard Manor; now the Colony Palms Hotel
Welwood Murray's Palm Springs Hotel Palm Springs 1886 1909 Demolished in 1954

Shopping district

Bullock's, a large upscale department store on Broadway in Los Angeles, opened a Spanish Colonial-style "resort store" within the Desert Inn complex in 1930. When Bullock's opened a full department store at 151 Palm Canyon Drive in 1947, J. W. Robinson's, another large L.A. store, took the former Bullock's location and opened its own resort store there.

Southern California's first self-contained shopping center was in Palm Springs, La Plaza (originally Palm Springs Plaza), and on-street, open air center anchored by a small Desmond's department store, in 1936. The three-level parking garage for 141 cars was an innovation and the largest in Riverside County at that time. In the mid-twentieth century across the street on Palm Canyon Drive were department stores like Bullock's/Bullocks Wilshire ( 151, 1947–1990), J. W. Robinson's (No. 333, 1958–1987), and Saks Fifth Avenue (opened October 16, 1959 at No. 490), forming a large shopping district. In 1967 the Desert Fashion Plaza mall was built, I. Magnin opened there (closed 1992) and Saks closed its previous location and moved into a new larger store in the mall. Joseph Magnin Co. opened a department store in the mall in 1969, meaning that together with a Sears at 611 Palm Canyon Dr., for two decades, downtown boasted seven department stores, plus the Palm Springs Mall to the east operating from 1959 to 2005.

World War II

When the United States entered World War II, Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley were important in the war effort. The original airfield near Palm Springs became a staging area for the Air Corps Ferrying Command's 21st Ferrying Group in November 1941 and a new airfield was built from the old site. The new airfield,[18] designated Palm Springs Army Airfield, was completed in early 1942. Personnel from the Air Transport Command 560th Army Air Forces Base Unit stayed at the La Paz Guest Ranch and training was conducted at the airfield by the 72nd and 73rd Ferrying Squadrons. Later training was provided by the IV Fighter Command 459th Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron.

Eight months before Pearl Harbor Day, the El Mirador Hotel was fully booked and adding new facilities.[19] After the war started, the U.S. government bought the hotel from owner Warren Phinney for $750,000,[20] just over $13,000,000 if including inflation in 2020, and converted it into the Torney General Hospital, with Italian prisoners of war serving as kitchen help and orderlies in 1944 and 1945.[14] Through the war it was staffed with 1,500 personnel and treated some 19,000 patients.[12]

General Patton's Desert Training Center encompassed the entire region, with its headquarters in Camp Young at the Chiriaco Summit and an equipment depot maintained by the 66th Ordnance in present-day Palm Desert.[18]

Post-World War II

Architectural modernists flourished with commissions from the stars, using the city to explore architectural innovations, new artistic venues, and an exotic back-to-the-land experiences. Inventive architects designed unique vacation houses, such as steel houses with prefabricated panels and folding roofs, a glass-and-steel house in a boulder-strewn landscape, and a carousel house that turned to avoid the sun's glare.

In 1946, Richard Neutra designed the Kaufmann Desert House. A modernist classic, this mostly glass residence incorporated the latest technological advances in building materials, using natural lighting and floating planes and flowing space for proportion and detail. In recent years an energetic preservation program has protected and enhanced many classic buildings.

Culver (2010) argues that Palm Springs architecture became the model for mass-produced suburban housing, especially in the Southwest. This "Desert Modern" style was a high-end architectural style featuring open-design plans, wall-to-wall carpeting, air-conditioning, swimming pools, and very large windows. As Culver concludes, "While environmentalists might condemn desert modern, the masses would not. Here, it seemed, were houses that fully merged inside and outside, providing spaces for that essential component of Californian—and indeed middle-class American—life: leisure. While not everyone could have a Neutra masterpiece, many families could adopt aspects of Palm Springs modern."[21]

Hollywood values permeated the resort as it combined celebrity, health, new wealth, and sex. As Culver (2010) explains: "The bohemian sexual and marital mores already apparent in Hollywood intersected with the resort atmosphere of Palm Springs, and this new, more open sexuality would gradually appear elsewhere in national tourist culture."[21] During this period, the city government, stimulated by real estate developers systematically removed and excluded poor people and Indians.

Palm Springs was pictured by the French photographer Robert Doisneau in November 1960 as part of an assignment for Fortune on the construction of golf courses in this particularly dry and hot area of the Colorado desert. Doisneau submitted around 300 slides following his ten-day stay depicting the lifestyle of wealthy retirees and Hollywood stars in the 1960s. At the time, Palm Springs counted just 19 courses, which had grown to 125 by 2010.

Year-round living

Similar to the pre-war era, Palm Springs remained popular with the rich and famous of Hollywood, as well as retirees and Canadian tourists. Between 1947 and 1965, the Alexander Construction Company built some 2,200 houses in Palm Springs effectively doubling its housing capacity.

As the 1970s drew to a close, increasing numbers of retirees moved to the Coachella Valley. As a result, Palm Springs began to evolve from a virtual ghost town in the summer to a year-round community. Businesses and hotels that used to close for the months of July and August instead remained open all summer. As commerce grew, so too did the number of families with children.

The recession of 1973–1975 affected Palm Springs as many of the wealthy residents had to cut back on their spending. Later in the 1970s numerous Chicago mobsters invested $50 million in the Palm Springs area, buying houses, land, and businesses. While Palm Springs faced competition from the desert cities to the east in the later 1980s, it has continued to prosper into the 21st century.

Palm Springs (as well as surrounding areas) became a desired destination as the COVID-19 pandemic began; the city saw an increase of residents from larger cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco, with new residents seeking less dense areas from which to work remotely.

Spring break

Since the early 1950s the city had been a popular spring break resort. Glamorized as a destination in the 1963 movie Palm Springs Weekend, the number of visitors grew and at times the gatherings had problems. In 1969 an estimated 15,000 people had gathered for a concert at the Palm Springs Angel Stadium and 300 were arrested for drunkenness or disturbing the peace. In the 1980s, 10,000 or more college students would visit the city and form crowds and parties—and another rampage occurred in 1986 when Palm Springs Police in riot gear had to put down the rowdy crowd. In 1990, due to complaints by residents, mayor Sonny Bono and the city council closed the city's Palm Canyon Drive to spring breakers and the downtown businesses, normally filled with tourists, lost money.

Today

Tourism is a major factor in the city's economy with 1.6 million visitors in 2011.[17] The city has over 130 hotels and resorts, numerous bed and breakfasts, and over 100 restaurants and dining spots. Events such as the Coachella and Stagecoach Festivals in nearby Indio attract younger people, making greater Palm Springs a more attractive area to retire.

Following the 2008 recession, Palm Springs revitalized its Downtown, "the Village". Rebuilding started with the demolition of the Bank of America building in January 2012, with the Desert Fashion Plaza scheduled for demolition in 2013.

In 2020, Christy Holstege became the mayor of Palm Springs, which made her the first openly bisexual mayor in the United States, as well as the first female mayor of Palm Springs. The following year, Lisa Middleton became mayor, making her the first transgender mayor in California history.

The movement behind mid-century modern architecture (1950s/60s era) in Palm Springs is backed by architecture enthusiasts, designers, and local historians to preserve many of Palm Springs' buildings and homes of famous celebrities, businessmen, and politicians. Stores sell furniture and gifts that feature a mid-century modern theme. The city holds a Modernism Week celebration every February, along with several related smaller events during the year.

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