History
Archaeological research has shown that the Cahuilla Indians have lived in the area for the past 350–500 years. The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians is a tribe composed of several smaller bands who live in the modern day Palm Springs. The reservation occupies 32,000 acres (13,000 ha), of which 6,700 acres (2,700 ha) lie within the city limits, making the Agua Caliente band the city’s largest landowner. Significant to the real estate market in Palm Springs, many of the Condos and some homes are built on land leased from the Indians. The reservation land was originally composed of alternating squares of land laid out across the desert in a checkerboard pattern. The alternating, non-reservation squares, were provided by the United States Government to the Southern Pacific Railroad as an incentive to bring rail lines through the open desert. Tribal enrollment is currently estimated at between 296 and 365 people. In the early 19th century, Spanish explorers named the area “Agua Caliente” (hot water).
The current name for the area is “Palm Springs” which likely came into common usage in the mid-1860s when U.S. Government surveyors noted that a local mineral spring was located at the base of “two bunches of palms”. By 1884 when San Francisco attorney John Guthrie McCallum settled in Palm Springs, the name was already in wide acceptance.
The city became a fashionable resort in the 1900s when health tourists arrived with conditions that needed dry heat. In the 1920s Hollywood movie stars were attracted by the sunny weather and seclusion. Architectural modernists flourished with commissions from the stars. Inventive architects designed unique vacation houses, such as steel houses with prefabricated panels and folding roofs. Palm Springs now has one of the greatest collections of mid-century designed homes anywhere.
Architecture
Palm Springs is noted for its mid-century modern architecture, a tradition that grew out of the aesthetics of the German Bauhaus and is reflected in the work of Albert Frey (who designed the Palm Springs city hall, aerial-tram (cable car) station, Movie Colony Hotel and airport), Donald Wexler, Richard Neutra, E. Stewart Williams, John Lautner, and others. Architectural preservation has become
A home developer, Alexander Homes, popularized this post-and-beam architectural style in the Coachella Valley. Alexander houses and similar homes feature low-pitched roofs, wide eaves, open-beamed ceilings, and floor-to-ceiling windows. Many restoration projects are being undertaken to restore these homes and businesses to their original condition.
