Eden Hot Springs was a historic hot springs and resort in Riverside County, California, United States.
Eden Hot Springs | |
---|---|
Canadian Springs Rancho Grande | |
Coordinates | 33°53′46″N 117°03′25″W / 33.896°N 117.057°W[1] |
Elevation | 1,690 feet (520 m) |
Type | geothermal |
Discharge | 114 liters/minute[2] |
Temperature | 43 °C (109 °F)[2] |
History
editBefore settlement, there was a village of Serrano people at what came to be called Eden Springs.[3] One report states that "in little valley south of Eden Hot Springs and west of Mt. Eden [there were] three camps with midden deposits in addition to a mill. This location was probably used only during a limited portion of the year."[4]
Eden, the northernmost of the three hot springs along the San Jacinto fault, had a resort as early as the 1890s.[5] The entrance to the springs property was said to be located at the corner of the Joe Aigurrie ranch along San Jacinto highway[6] and/or south of the so-called Jackrabbit Trail road.[7][8] Eden Hot Springs was a historic hot springs and resort in Riverside County, California. In the early 1900s, it was owned by James B. Glover, a San Bernardino County supervisor known for developing roads and water resources. Glover's son-in-law, Frank A. Armstrong, managed the resort. . [9][10] Circa 1904, "conveyances for Eden" left from the Star Grocery in Redlands every Wednesday and Saturday at 3 p.m.[11] Picture postcards show that in the early 1900s there was a one-story hotel, cottages, changing rooms, and a bathhouse with an open outdoor "cistern".[5]
As of 1908, "cottages and tents provided accommodations for about 50 people, and a bathhouse and small swimming pool allowed use of the water for bathing".[12] Bottled water from the springs was sold under the labels Iron Lithia and White Sulphur.[12] In 1910, a newspaper reported "The property contains 640 acres of rolling foothill land, a large portion of which is tillable. The 30 or 40 mineral springs furnish a flow of 25 inches, which can be used for irrigation purposes. Already a small orchard of different varieties of deciduous fruits has been planted, as well as a vineyard. Among the improvements are a new pavilion, a large cement plunge, several bath houses, a number of new cottages, and a dining room".[13] J. B. Glover died in 1921,[14] and F. A. Armstrong took charge in 1922.[15] In 1926, Frank and Virgie L. Armstrong sold the property to investors from Los Angeles.[16]
In 1929, the investment group that had acquired the site commissioned California architect S. Charles Lee to design new resort facilities. Lee told an interviewer many years later, "We built a hotel and bungalows and all the appurtenances to a hot springs hotel".[17] At that time, Lee used a private plane to travel to the dozen or so commissions he had in the Southland, including the fairly remote Eden Springs.[17] The California Spanish Colonial Revival-style hotel was said to be set upon a "mesa" overlooking the canyon and the valley beyond.[18] At that time, the site was said to have 23 "medicinal springs".[18] However, the Great Depression was at hand, and according to one account, "during the 1930s all the hot springs in the San Jacinto valley dried up".[5] The property changed hands several times,[6][19] until eventually a man named Axel Springboard took it over and ran it somewhat successfully in the period immediately before and during World War II.[20] The resort was rebranded Keith's Rancho and then Rancho Grande,[21][22] and eventually closed in 1946.[23]
When sold at auction in 1952, Eden Hot Springs was said to be 654 acres, with a "two-story main hotel with 14 suites, an adjoining building with 12 suites, a dining room and kitchen structure, a bathhouse, five cottages and a swimming pool".[23][24] It was then renamed Canadian Springs and was used as a "weekend facility", eventually closing again in 1958.[20][25]
Eden Springs was evacuated but saved from destruction during the 1975 Badlands fire,[26] stood empty and was sold to new owners in 1977, and was destroyed in an arson fire in 1979.[20]
Fossils
editEden Hot Springs resort was the only access route to a fossil find in San Timoteo Badlands, which was excavated under the sponsorship of Childs Frick from 1916 to 1921.[9][27] Fossils found in the San Timoteo and Mt. Eden Formations included mastodons, ground sloths, a three-toed horse, a giraffe-camel, a very small camel, and a cave bear.[28]
Water profile
editAccording to an U.S. government survey of California springs first published in 1915, "Eight small springs rise within a distance of 100 yards at the base of a steep granitic slope. The water issues less than 200 yards beyond the southeastern border of a series of shales and sandstones of Tertiary age, in which there are dislocations that were probably caused by the uplift of the San Jacinto Range; but the springs seem not to be related causally to the sediments. The maximum temperature of the water is about 110 °F (43 °C). It is moderately sulphureted but does not seem to be otherwise notably mineralized".[12][29]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Berry, G.W.; Grim, P.J.; Ikelman, J.A. (1980). Thermal springs list for the United States (Report). Key to Geophysical Records Documentation No. 12. Environmental Data and Information Service National Geophysical and Solar-Terrestrial Data Center. Boulder, Colo.: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). p. 14. doi:10.2172/6737326.
- ^ a b Higgins, Chris T.; Therberge, Albert E. Jr.; Ikelman, Joy A. (1980). Geothermal Resources of California (PDF) (Map). NOAA National Geophysical Center. Sacramento: California Department of Mines and Geology.
- ^ "Riverside County Scenes Varied". The Register. January 15, 1967. p. 110. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
- ^ "City of Moreno Valley Cultural Resources Report" (PDF). July 2006. p. 5.10-9.
- ^ a b c Lech, Steve (2005). Resorts of Riverside County. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 69–70. ISBN 978-0-7385-3078-9.
- ^ a b "New Owner Makes Plans to Promote Eden Hot Springs". Riverside Daily Press. August 26, 1926. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
- ^ "Asbestos and Cement Plant to be Built". The Perris Progress. February 21, 1924. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
- ^ "Quarter Mile Race Feature at Rodeo". Riverside Daily Press. March 26, 1946. p. 6. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
- ^ a b "The Bone Mine". The Banning Record. March 7, 1918. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ^ "James Glover: Man of many talents". Redlands Daily Facts. September 12, 2009. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ^ "From Frank A. Armstrong". The Citrograph. July 30, 1904. p. 6. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ^ a b c Waring, Gerald Ashley (January 1915). Springs of California. U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey Water-Supply Papers. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 37. doi:10.3133/wsp338. Water Supply Paper No. 338 – via HathiTrust.
- ^ "Makes Improvements". The Los Angeles Times. January 26, 1910. p. 28. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
- ^ "Death Claims James B. Glover; City Pays Tribute to His Memory". Redlands Daily Facts. March 25, 1921. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
- ^ "Frank A. Armstrong". The Banning Record. May 25, 1922. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ^ "In and Around the Courthouse". Riverside Daily Press. March 8, 1926. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ^ a b "Interview of S. Charles Lee" (PDF). library.UCLA.edu. 1986. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ^ a b "Million Dollars Improvements for Eden Hot Springs". Lake Elsinore Valley Sun-Tribune. January 30, 1930. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
- ^ "Los Angeles Capitalist Buys Large Interest in Eden Springs". Riverside Daily Press. December 24, 1929. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
- ^ a b c "Fire levels historic resort in Hemet". The Valley Tribune. August 15, 1979. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
- ^ "Rancho Grande". The San Bernardino County Sun. April 18, 1946. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
- ^ "Quarter Mile Race Feature at Rodeo". Riverside Daily Press. March 26, 1946. p. 6. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
- ^ a b "Eden Springs Sold at Auction". Riverside Daily Press. May 10, 1952. p. 15. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ^ "Golden Sells Store, Buys Hot Springs". Riverside Daily Press. June 26, 1952. p. 22. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
- ^ "This Is Canadian Springs". Desert Dispatch. September 11, 1958. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
- ^ "Brush fires blacken more than 6,000 acres". The San Bernardino County Sun. September 23, 1975. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
- ^ Albright, L. Barry; Kendall, Jr., Arthur (August 3, 2000). Biostratigraphy and Vertebrate Paleontology of the San Timoteo Badlands, Southern California. University of California Press. doi:10.1525/california/9780520098367.003.0001. ISBN 978-0-520-09836-7.
- ^ "Big Pine Citizen 2 March 1918 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ^ Waring, Gerald A. (1919). "Hot Springs". Ground water in the San Jacinto and Temecula basins, California. U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey Water-Supply Papers. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 24–26. doi:10.3133/wsp429. Water Supply Paper No. 429. Retrieved 2023-11-14 – via HathiTrust.