47 Fun Facts About Palm Springs

Palm Springs lies in which California county?

Riverside County: Palm Springs covers about 94 square miles, the largest land area of any city in the county, which stretches from the Los Angeles suburbs east to the Arizona line.

Which Native American people settled the Palm Springs area about 2,000 years ago?

Cahuilla: the tribe's Agua Caliente band wintered beside the hot spring downtown and summered in the cooler canyons, and family names such as Andreas and Arenas survive as Palm Springs street names.

Tahquitz Canyon, on the western edge of Palm Springs, is best known for what feature?

A 60-foot waterfall: Tahquitz Falls drops about 60 feet at the head of a two-mile loop trail from the canyon's visitor center, on Agua Caliente tribal land.

Why is the Agua Caliente Reservation laid out in a checkerboard pattern across the city?

The Southern Pacific got the alternating 640-acre sections as an incentive to lay track through the desert.

The palm in the city's name refers to which native species?

Fan palm: the California fan palm, Washingtonia filifera, is the only palm native to California and grows wild in the Indian Canyons oases; the date palm was introduced later for farming.

The first European resident of Palm Springs, Jack Summers, ran what kind of business there in 1862?

A stagecoach station: Summers ran the stage stop from 1862; when the Southern Pacific laid its track six miles to the north in 1876, the station was bypassed and left isolated.

In which year was the city of Palm Springs established by election?

1938: residents voted to incorporate and Palm Springs became a city on April 20, 1938; it later adopted a city charter in 1994.

Which mountain range shelters Palm Springs on the west, casting the afternoon shadow that cools the city?

San Jacinto Mountains: they rise directly west of the city to Mount San Jacinto at 10,834 feet, and their shadow reaches the valley floor in late afternoon.

Which major fault runs along the northeast side of the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs?

San Andreas Fault: its southern section runs along the northeast edge of the Coachella Valley, through Desert Hot Springs, before ending near the Salton Sea at Bombay Beach.

How many residents did the 2020 census count in Palm Springs?

44,575: the 2020 census count for Palm Springs, up only slightly from 44,552 in 2010, although the population swells well beyond that during the winter season.

The Palm Springs ride up Chino Canyon is the world's largest example of what?

Rotating aerial tramway: the two cars, each holding 80 passengers, turn slowly so the floor makes two full revolutions during the ten-minute, 2.5-mile ascent up Chino Canyon.

In which year did the Aerial Tramway open?

1963: the tramway opened in September 1963 after a 28-year campaign by Francis Crocker, who first proposed a lift up the mountain in 1935.

Roughly how high above sea level is the tramway's Mountain Station?

8,516 feet: the Mountain Station sits at 8,516 feet, nearly 6,000 feet above the Valley Station at 2,643 feet, a climb the cars make in about ten minutes.

In which year were the rotating cars added to the tramway?

2000: Swiss-built rotating cars replaced the original cars in 2000, with floors that turn slowly through two full revolutions on each ten-minute trip.

Which architect designed the 1946 Kaufmann Desert House, the mostly-glass modernist landmark?

Richard Neutra: Edgar Kaufmann, the Pittsburgh store owner who had commissioned Fallingwater a decade earlier, hired Neutra for the 1946 glass-and-steel desert house; Barry Manilow later owned it.

Which photographer's 1970 image "Poolside Gossip" made the Kaufmann House an icon of desert glamour?

Slim Aarons: his 1970 'Poolside Gossip', with Nelda Linsk in yellow beside the Kaufmann House pool, became the defining image of Palm Springs glamour; Julius Shulman had photographed the house in 1947.

In which month does Palm Springs hold its annual Modernism Week celebration of mid-century architecture?

February: Modernism Week runs for eleven days each February, with home tours, lectures, films and a vintage trailer show across the Coachella Valley; a shorter preview edition runs in October.

Which architect designed the butterfly-roofed Twin Palms tract for the Alexander Construction Company?

William Krisel: of the firm Palmer & Krisel, he designed the Twin Palms tract built in 1957–58, originally marketed as Smoke Tree Valley Estates, with two palm trees planted on every lot.

Which two actors founded the Racquet Club, the tennis resort that became a Hollywood hangout, in 1934?

Future mayor Frank Bogert was an early manager; the club burned in 2014 and was demolished.

Which entertainer served as mayor of Palm Springs from 1988 to 1992 before being elected to Congress?

Sonny Bono: the singer-turned-restaurateur ran for mayor after city red tape blocked a sign for his restaurant, served from 1988 to 1992, and won a seat in the House of Representatives in 1994.

Which annual Palm Springs event, founded by its mayor in 1989, opens each January?

The Film Festival: the Palm Springs International Film Festival was founded in 1989 and first held in January 1990; it became known for screening dozens of each year's international-feature Oscar submissions.

Which interstate running north of the city carries the late mayor's name as a memorial freeway?

I-10: Interstate 10 runs along the north side of the Coachella Valley between Los Angeles and Arizona, and the stretch through the valley was named a memorial freeway for the late mayor after his death in 1998.

On which evening of the week does the downtown VillageFest street fair take over Palm Canyon Drive?

Thursday: VillageFest closes Palm Canyon Drive every Thursday evening for a street fair of craft stalls, food vendors and live music that began in 1991.

The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies, which closed after 2013–14, was famous for performers of what age?

Over 55: every Follies performer was at least 55, and some danced past 80; the show ran at the Plaza Theatre from 1991 to 2014 and inspired the Oscar-nominated 1997 short Still Kicking.

Which 26-foot Seward Johnson statue, showing a famous 1955 movie scene, stands in downtown Palm Springs?

Forever Marilyn: the 26-foot statue recreates Marilyn Monroe's billowing-skirt moment from The Seven Year Itch, weighs about 34,000 pounds, and returned to downtown Palm Springs permanently in 2021.

What was the early-1960s Warner Bros. comedy that glamorised the city as a spring-break destination?

Palm Springs Weekend: the Warner Bros. comedy starred Troy Donahue, Connie Stevens and Stefanie Powers as college students on an Easter-week trip to the city; within a few years real spring-break crowds had turned rowdy, with mass arrests in 1969.

Who plays Nyles, the wedding guest reliving November 9, in the 2020 comedy Palm Springs?

Andy Samberg: he plays Nyles opposite Cristin Milioti's Sarah, with J. K. Simmons as Roy; the film premiered at Sundance in January 2020 and went out on Hulu that July.

The city's main art institution, founded in the late 1930s, originally carried what name?

Palm Springs Desert Museum: it opened in the La Plaza arcade in the late 1930s, focused on desert natural history and Indigenous cultures, and took the name Palm Springs Art Museum in 2005.

In which year did the La Plaza shopping arcade open on Palm Canyon Drive?

1936: Julia Carnell opened La Plaza in 1936 as a courtyard of shops and apartments on Palm Canyon Drive, and its Plaza Theatre opened in December of the same year.

During World War II the luxurious El Mirador Hotel was bought by the government and turned into what?

A military hospital: the Army bought the hotel in 1942 and ran it as Torney General Hospital, treating thousands of wounded servicemen, with Italian prisoners of war working as orderlies and kitchen staff.

Which general's Desert Training Center covered the whole region during World War II?

Patton: General George S. Patton established the Desert Training Center in 1942 to prepare troops for North Africa, with headquarters at Camp Young near Chiriaco Summit, now the site of his memorial museum.

In 2017 Palm Springs made US history by electing what kind of governing body?

The first entirely LGBTQ council: the November 2017 election left all five council seats held by LGBTQ members, three gay men, one bisexual woman and one transgender woman, a first for any US city.

Who became mayor in 2021, the first openly transgender mayor in California history?

Lisa Middleton: elected to the council in 2017, she was sworn in as mayor in December 2021, the first openly transgender person to lead a California city.

The Sunnylands estate, nicknamed the "Camp David of the West", sits in which neighbouring city?

Rancho Mirage: Walter and Leonore Annenberg built the 200-acre Sunnylands estate there in 1966, and its pink-roofed house hosted presidents from Nixon to Obama, earning the 'Camp David of the West' nickname.

The Coachella and Stagecoach festivals are held in which valley city?

Their younger crowds have made greater Palm Springs a more attractive place to retire, according to the city.

The wind farm greeting drivers arriving in Palm Springs sits at the mouth of which pass?

San Gorgonio: the San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm, developed from the early 1980s, fills the windy gap at the northwest entrance to the Coachella Valley, one of California's three original wind-resource areas along with Altamont and Tehachapi.

Which architect designed Pearl McCallum's 1924 Oasis Hotel?

Lloyd Wright: the eldest son of Frank Lloyd Wright designed the 1924 Oasis Hotel for Pearl McCallum McManus, and its concrete tower was preserved as a landmark when the rest of the hotel was demolished.

The Palm Springs airport terminal is unusual for having what?

Roofless open-air walkways: after security, passengers cross an outdoor courtyard of palms and lawn to reach the two concourses, a Donald Wexler design that opened in 1966 and suits the dry desert climate.

Palm Springs sits in which arid region, the California portion of the Sonoran?

Colorado Desert: the low-lying California section of the Sonoran Desert, named for the Colorado River along its eastern edge, covers the Coachella Valley and the Salton Sea basin.

Which square mile of downtown Palm Springs did the city clear in the 1960s, evicting mostly Black and Latino residents?

Section 14: the square mile of tribal land just east of downtown was cleared in the 1950s and 1960s, with homes burned and bulldozed; the city apologised in 2021 and approved a $5.9 million settlement in 2024.

Roughly how far above sea level does downtown Palm Springs sit?

479 feet: downtown Palm Springs sits about 479 feet above sea level on the floor of the Coachella Valley, while the mountains rising immediately to its west top 10,000 feet.

Which Major League Baseball team held spring training in Palm Springs from 1961 to 1993?

The Angels: the franchise trained at Palm Springs' Polo Grounds, renamed Angels Stadium, from its first season in 1961 through 1993, after which spring camps moved fully to Tempe, Arizona.

Which NHL team's AHL affiliate was meant to play in Palm Springs before the arena plan fell through?

Seattle Kraken: the AHL club first announced for a downtown Palm Springs arena in 2019 instead became the Coachella Valley Firebirds, playing at Acrisure Arena in Thousand Palms from December 2022.

Which Rancho Mirage course, the area's first with 18 holes, hosted the 1955 Ryder Cup?

Thunderbird: the Thunderbird Ranch and Country Club opened in 1951, designed by Lawrence Hughes for developer Johnny Dawson, as the first 18-hole course in the Coachella Valley, and hosted the 1955 Ryder Cup.

Who became Palm Springs' first female mayor and the first openly bisexual US mayor in 2020?

Christy Holstege: elected to the council in 2017, she became the city's first female mayor in December 2020 and, as an openly bisexual woman, the first openly bisexual mayor of any US city.

In which year did Palm Springs elect Ron Oden, its first openly gay mayor?

2003: Ron Oden, a councilman since 1995, won the mayoral election in November 2003 and served until 2007, becoming the first openly gay Black mayor of a US city.

Which historic stagecoach route, running 1862 to 1877, was one of the first transport links to Palm Springs?

Bradshaw Trail: William Bradshaw blazed the route in 1862 from San Bernardino to the La Paz gold fields in Arizona; stage traffic ended in 1877 once the Southern Pacific reached Yuma.