[9] While the Cahuillas often spent the summers in Indian Canyons, the current site of the former Spa Resort Casino, in downtown, was often used during winter due to its natural hot springs.

The alternating non-reservation sections were granted to the Southern Pacific Railroad as an incentive to bring rail lines through the Sonoran Desert.

A number of streets and areas in Palm Springs are named for Native American notables, including Andreas, Arenas, Amado, Belardo, Lugo, Patencio, Saturnino, and Chino.

[30]: 17  In 1880, local Indian Pedro Chino was selling parcels near the springs to William Van Slyke and Mathew Bryne in a series of questionable transactions; they in turn brought in W. R. Porter to help market their property through the "Palm City Land and Water Company".

[25]: 275  By 1885, when San Francisco attorney (later known as "Judge") John Guthrie McCallum began buying property in Palm Springs, the name was already in wide acceptance.

[34] In 1906 naturalist and travel writer George Wharton James's two volume The Wonders of the Colorado Desert described Palm Springs as having "great charms and attractiveness"[35]: 278–281  and included an account of his stay at Murray's hotel.

James's Wonders of the Colorado Desert (above) was followed in 1920 by J. Smeaton Chase's Our Araby: Palm Springs and the Garden of the Sun, which also promoted the area.

[24]: 68–69 [44] The next major hotel was the El Mirador, a large and luxurious resort that attracted the biggest movie stars; opening in 1927, its prominent feature was a 68-foot-tall (21 m) Renaissance style tower.[24]: Ch.

A modernist classic, this mostly glass residence incorporated the latest technological advances in building materials, using natural lighting and floating planes and flowing space for proportion and detail.

"[71] During this period, the city government, stimulated by real estate developers, systematically removed and excluded poor people and Indians.

[72][73] Palm Springs was pictured by the French photographer Robert Doisneau in November 1960 as part of an assignment for Fortune[74] on the construction of golf courses in this particularly dry and hot area of the Colorado desert.

[75] Section 14 is a square mile of land owned by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians within close walking distance of downtown.

"[77] In 2021 the California Attorney General's office later called the displacement a "city-engineered holocaust", depriving dozens of Black and Latino people of generational wealth.

"[80] The Palm Springs Human Relations Commission cited this history, as well as a conflict of interest while Bogert acted as conservator for tribal land which was being demolished by the city, and racist comments regarding the "poor Blacks" who lived in Section 14, as justification for removing a statue of Bogert on horseback placed in 1990 in front of the Palm Springs City Hall.

[84] Similar to the pre-war era, Palm Springs remained popular with the rich and famous of Hollywood, as well as retirees and Canadian tourists.

Palm Springs has a hot desert climate (BWh in Köppen-Geiger classification), with over 300 days of sunshine and 4.93 inches (125.2 mm) of rainfall annually.

Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Estée Lauder, Carmen Miranda and Bing Crosby built homes in these neighborhoods.

In the 1960s, Robert Fey built 70 homes designed by Donald Wexler and Ric Harrison in the El Rancho Vista Estates.

Noted residents have included screenwriter Walter Koch, artist Paul A. Grimm, activist Cleve Jones and actor Wesley Eure.

[126] Noted residents have included King Gillette, Zane Grey, Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Suzanne Somers, Herman Wouk, Henry Fernandez, Barry Manilow and Trina Turk.

The area was owned by Pearl McCallum McManus, and she started building homes in the neighborhood after World War II ended.

[128] During World War II, the original Sunmor Estates area was the western portion of the Palm Springs Army Airfield.

This celebration, held every year in November, includes events such as the Palm Springs Pride Golf Classic, the Stonewall Equality Concert, and a Broadway in Drag Pageant.

These cars, built by Von Roll Tramways,[150] ascend from Chino Canyon two and a half miles (4 km) up a steep incline to the station at 8,516 feet (2,596 m).

Numerous hotels, restaurants and attractions cater to tourists, while shoppers can find a variety of high-end boutiques in downtown and uptown Palm Springs.

The downtown street fair has been a regular Thursday evening event, drawing tourists and locals alike to Palm Canyon Drive to stroll amid the food and craft vendors.

[216] Starting off as a social organization for the cream of Palm Springs society, the group sponsors horseback riding and trail building for equestrians, hikers, and bicyclists.

[217] The Desert Riders were also significant in providing combination chuckwagon meals and rides through nearby canyons to hotel guests as Palm Springs developed its tourist industry.

In 2006 the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino built the Xavier College Preparatory High School[239] in Palm Desert.

Additionally, Palm Springs and the surrounding area are served by AM and FM radio stations including the following: The city's library was started in 1924 and financed by Martha Hitchcock.