50 Fun Facts About Palm Springs

Palm Springs lies in which California county?

At roughly 94 square miles it is the largest city in the county by land area.

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

They spent summers in the cooler canyons and winters beside the hot springs downtown, and their surnames survive on many city streets.

What does the tribal name Agua Caliente mean?

The reservation was established in 1876 and the tribe is the city's largest landowner.

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?

Early Spanish explorers may also have called the area La Palma de la Mano de Dios, the palm of God's hand.

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

When the railroad was laid six miles to the north in 1876, his stop on the Bradshaw Trail was left isolated.

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

Voters later adopted a charter in 1994; the high school built the same year the city incorporated is still the district's oldest.

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

The city is boxed in by four ranges, which also block cold winter winds coming through the gap to the northwest.

What is the highest temperature ever recorded in Palm Springs?

It came on July 5, 2025; the previous October the city had tied the US record for the hottest October day at 117 °F.

Most of the snowbirds who triple Palm Springs' winter population come from which country?

The 2020 census counted 44,575 permanent residents.

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

The car floors turn twice during the ten-minute ride so everyone gets every view.

In which year did the Aerial Tramway open?

Before that the only way to the top of the mountain was a hike of several hours from Idyllwild.

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

The ride climbs through five life zones, and the air at the top can be 40 degrees cooler than the desert floor.

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

On a clear day the view from the top stretches more than 200 miles, to Mount Charleston near Las Vegas.

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

Its client had also commissioned Fallingwater a decade earlier; Barry Manilow later owned the house.

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

Julius Shulman had already photographed the house in 1947, and Robert Doisneau shot the city's golf lifestyle for Fortune in 1960.

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

The eleven-day festival mixes tours, lectures and films across the Coachella Valley.

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

Built in 1957–58 and originally called Smoke Tree Valley Estates, every lot came with two palm trees.

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.

In which Palm Springs neighbourhood did Hope, Sinatra and Crosby build homes in the 1930s?

Liberace, Jerry Lewis and William Holden preferred Deepwell, further south.

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

He got into politics after being frustrated by red tape while trying to open a restaurant in town.

Which January event, a leading US showcase for world cinema, did that mayor start in 1989?

Founded by Sonny Bono, it is billed as the largest festival for world cinema in the United States and screens most of the foreign Oscar contenders.

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

It links the valley to Los Angeles in one direction and the Colorado River in the other.

The city's Walk of the Stars embeds sidewalk markers of what colour and shape?

Since the first five were unveiled in 1992, nearly 480 have been dedicated, including to US presidents.

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

The city launched it together with downtown businesses.

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

The stage show ran for years at the historic Plaza Theatre and got its own 1997 documentary, Still Kicking.

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

It recreates the subway-grate moment from The Seven Year Itch and weighs about 34,000 pounds.

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

Troy Donahue, Stefanie Powers and Connie Stevens starred; a few years later a spring-break concert saw 300 arrests.

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

Cristin Milioti co-stars; the film premiered at Sundance and went out on Hulu during the pandemic.

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

It began in the La Plaza arcade focusing on the desert and its Indigenous peoples, and shifted to design and contemporary art decades later.

In which year did La Plaza, Southern California's first self-contained shopping centre, open?

Its three-level garage for 141 cars was the largest in the county at the time.

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

Torney General Hospital treated some 19,000 patients, with Italian POWs working as orderlies and kitchen help.

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

Its headquarters were at Camp Young near Chiriaco Summit.

How many golf courses did the Palm Springs area have when Robert Doisneau photographed it in 1960?

By 2010 the count had grown to 125, making the valley California's top golf destination.

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

It comprised one bisexual woman, three gay men and one trans woman.

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

Her predecessor Christy Holstege had been the first openly bisexual mayor in the United States a year earlier.

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

Walter and Leonore Annenberg's pink-roofed house was once the largest in Riverside County.

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?

Development began in the 1980s, and by 2025 it had 667 turbines; it is one of California's three original wind-farm areas with Altamont and Tehachapi.

Which architect, son of a far more famous one, designed Pearl McCallum's 1924 Oasis Hotel?

The next big hotel, El Mirador, followed in 1927 with a 68-foot Renaissance tower.

The Palm Springs airport terminal is unusual for having what?

Passengers cross an open courtyard with a wine bar and playground to reach the two concourses.

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

That is the California portion of the larger Sonoran Desert, which has more rattlesnake species than anywhere else on Earth.

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

The city formally apologised in 2021, removed a statue of Mayor Frank Bogert and approved a $5.91 million settlement for former residents and heirs.

How many rattlesnake species live in the Sonoran Desert around Palm Springs, more than anywhere else?

The most common is the Mojave green, considered the most dangerous rattlesnake anywhere.

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

The White Sox and Oakland A's also trained there in earlier decades.

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

The team became the Coachella Valley Firebirds, playing at Acrisure Arena in Thousand Palms.

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

It opened in 1951, designed by Lawrence Hughes and Johnny Dawson; the area's 100th course opened in 2001.

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

Lisa Middleton followed her in 2021 as California's first openly transgender mayor.

Palm Springs ranks where nationally for its percentage of same-sex households?

In 2010, 10.1 percent of households were same-sex couples, against a national average of 1 percent.

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

It ran from San Bernardino to La Paz, Arizona; the Southern Pacific arrived in the 1870s.