YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW
G.I. Pitchford, 1948 pitchfordphotos.com
P
alm Springs, California is truly “Like No Place Else”. As one of the sunniest year-round resort destinations in the USA, Palm Springs
sits like a jewel perched serenely on the western edge of the Sonoran Desert. For the approximately 45,000 citizens and millions of
annual visitors, it’s a great place to live and vacation in the 21st Century. Needless to say, it wasn’t always this way.
As we celebrate the city’s 75th anniversary, we’ve been reflecting on some of the milestones that got us here.
This region was home to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians for thousands of years before they encountered non-Indians for the first time. In 1853, a U.S. government survey party mapped the “Palm Springs”
area (they were the first to use the name) and established the first wagon route through the San Gorgonio
Pass (which is now part of Interstate 10 and the main road from Palm Springs to Los Angeles).
Word was getting around that
this area had a pleasant climate
and beautiful scenery, and people started visiting. Many of
them stayed and Palm Springs
grew rapidly. In 1909, Nellie
Coffman’s Desert Inn opened,
as did a garage for servicing
Desert Inn c. 1922
courtesy Palm Springs Historical Society
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