History Archives - Page 2 of 80

History

The Hidden Modernism of La Quinta Country Club

The desert will harbor one less secret when Modernism Week 2026 sweeps in next month: La Quinta Country Club will finally unlock its long-impenetrable gates for public tours of six private residences. Until now, only flashes of the architectural gems inside Golf Estates — the largest of the 13 tracts orbiting the club — have drifted into the collective consciousness. One of the most whispered-about is the 1960 A. Quincy Jones and Frederick Emmons house designed for film director Frank Capra, an outwardly modest hideaway with a loyal fan base. (Spoiler alert: It’s not on the tour.)

New Book Spotlights History of The Plaza Theatre’s Radio Days

by Site Staff | Arts + Culture, History

The following story was excerpted from Desert Dream to Silver Screen: The Story of the Historic Palm Springs Plaza Theatre by Catherine Graham and Jim Cook. To order your copy, click here. As America entered World War II, Palm Springs transformed from a sun-kissed...

Palm Springs Air Museum Backs Search for Amelia Earhart

by Maggie Downs | Arts + Culture, History

Deep in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, the rainforest swallows history whole. Rusted fuselages and twisted propellers hide beneath vines so dense that even a B-17 bomber can disappear in the tangle. “You can’t believe how overgrown it is until you’re there,” says...

The History of Casa Cody, the Oldest Hotel in Palm Springs

by Karen Lindell | History, Hotels + Resorts

At Casa Cody, the only sight brighter than the pink bougainvillea spilling over the walls is the vivid orange horseshoe hanging in every room. “We think of those as our good luck charms,” says Sana Keefer, head of brand for Casetta Hotels, which runs Casa Cody, the...

16 Rare Historical Photos Reveal the Coachella Valley’s Eccentric Past

by Emily Chavous Foster | Arts + Culture, History

Sundays with McQueen Above: Actor Steve McQueen and his first wife, actress Neile Adams, explore the open desert near Palm Springs on a windswept afternoon in May 1963.Peter Stackpole/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock Peter Stackpole/The LIFE Picture...

New Book Celebrates the Legacy of the Historic Plaza Theatre

by Site Staff | Arts + Culture, History

The following story was excerpted from Desert Dream to Silver Screen: The Story of the Historic Palm Springs Plaza Theatre by Catherine Graham and Jim Cook. To order your copy, click here. Less than a month after its opening night, Earle Strebe temporarily shuttered...

Wake Up With the Desert

Each morning, Palm Springs Life curates good reads and insider recommendations of the best things to do across Greater Palm Springs. Get The Daily Guide for fresh ideas, local flavor, and a daily dose of inspiration that’s actually worth reading.

How Pearl McManus Built One of Palm Springs’ First Resorts

by Amelia Rodriguez

Some of us have guest rooms. Pearl McManus had a guest resort. McManus was a critical developer behind important city properties, including the area’s first apartments, a Frank Lloyd Wright–designed hotel, and the Palm Springs Tennis Club, a serene retreat tucked...

20 Moments in History That Influenced Desert Modern Architecture

by Leilani Marie Labong

1922 Designed in 1922 by Austrian architect Rudolph M. Schindler for globetrotting eugenicist and pioneering date farmer Paul Popenoe and his bride, Betty, the erstwhile Popenoe Cabin in what is now the city of Coachella is widely considered the region’s first...

100 Years of Dates: The Sweet History of Coachella Valley’s Top Crop

by Elina Shatkin

Although most farming in the United States has become increasingly mechanized, date cultivation defies automation, preserving a hands-on tradition honed over generations. “If you’re growing citrus, you can bring bee boxes out, and the bees will do all the pollination...

A Brief History of Pioneertown California: From Film Set to Desert Destination

by Ashley Breeding

Nestled in the Morongo Basin, a tumbleweed’s blow from Joshua Tree National Park, Pioneertown is a living time capsule of the Old West. Founded in 1946 as a live-in movie set by actor Dick Curtis and fellow entertainers, including Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, the dusty...

Desert Dreamers 13: The Movie Moguls

by James Munn

Once upon a time, in a faraway place (roughly 100 miles west of Palm Springs), glittering kingdoms emerged on the Los Angeles landscape. The rivalrous rulers shared a common goal: to profit by telling stories. Their subjects were legion — a vast array of beauty,...

The History of Bing Crosby’s Desert Retreat

by Ashley Breeding

A trailer park may have seemed an odd endeavor for entertainment mogul Bing Crosby. Still, in 1952, while cohosting a radio show with Jack Benny at the El Mirador Hotel in Palm Springs, Crosby sought a nearby escape where he could relax and revel with Hollywood...

Making the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway Mountain Station

by Ronald Ahrens

For comic effect, E. Stewart Williams liked to play up the architect’s miserable lot, as when he welcomed colleagues to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway’s commanding 35,000-square-foot Mountain Station soon after its 1963 completion: “I suggest you make the most of...

WWII Interpreter Lydia Van Vogt: A Journey of Courage and Survival

by Phillip Large

Sitting in her living room in Desert Hot Springs, Lydia Van Vogt (née Lydia Ivanovna Bereschinska) has lived an inspired life, filled with stories of war and an immigrant’s survival, struggle, and ultimate success. These memories will be preserved in the documentary...

Discover The 100-Year History of Shields Date Garden in Indio

by Emily Chavous Foster

A century ago, Floyd and Bess Shields took a chance on a new adventure, opening a date ranch in the Coachella Valley on Christmas Day 1924. Floyd was in his late 30s. Ever the dreamer, he traded a Long Beach apartment lease and some furniture for a run-down palm grove...

Lost Creek Canyon Ranch: A Forgotten Oasis Overlooking the Coachella Valley

by Will Cockrell

One hot summer night in 2019, Mike and Linda Rivkin trekked to Lost Creek Canyon Ranch in the foothills above Whitewater, at the northwestern tip of the Coachella Valley. The couple and the property owner shared a mutual friend, who organized the visit. Mike and...

Early Desert Artist Irwin D. Hoffman’s Paintings Document WWII Miners

by Larry Hughes

As fascism ravaged the globe during the darkest days of World War II, Palm Springs found itself surrounded by America’s response: military muscle. To the east, Gen. George S. Patton was drilling his troops for the North African invasion, and to the south, dozens of...

How Claude Bell Built the Cabazon Dinosaurs Near Palm Springs

by Emily Chavous Foster

It took Claude Bell 11 years and $200,000 to build his first roadside dinosaur in Cabazon. Dinney the Dinosaur, as he named it, opened for business in 1975. The 150-foot-long, 45-foot-tall Apatosaurus — made of a steel mesh skeleton and sprayed concrete — concealed a...

Proposed Chuckwalla National Monument to Protect Critical Desert Habitat

by James W. Cornett

A vast and storied stretch of desert land from the eastern edge of the Coachella Valley to the Colorado river could soon receive critical protection as a national monument. “Our day had been spent in nature’s world of peace and harmony — where there is strength...

How Architect E. Stewart Williams Designed Palm Springs Art Museum

by Ronald Ahrens

Architect Emerson Stewart Williams considered Palm Springs Desert Museum his greatest achievement, but he faced unexpected and oft forgotten challenges during its design and construction. For Williams, the cultural beacon we know today as Palm Springs Art Museum...

« Older Entries

Next Entries »

Palm Springs Life magazine cover titled “Designing for Tomorrow,” featuring a hand-drawn architectural sketch highlighting achievements in restoration and design in Palm Springs.

Subscribe to Magazine