City of Desert Hot Springs | |
---|---|
City | |
Location in Riverside County and the state of California |
|
Location in the United States | |
Coordinates: 33°57′40″N 116°30′29″W / 33.96111°N 116.50806°WCoordinates: 33°57′40″N 116°30′29″W / 33.96111°N 116.50806°W | |
Country | United States |
State | California |
County | Riverside |
Incorporated | September 25, 1963 |
Government | |
• Mayor | Scott Matas |
Area | |
• Total | 23.642 sq mi (61.233 km2) |
• Land | 23.615 sq mi (61.164 km2) |
• Water | 0.027 sq mi (0.069 km2) 0.11% |
Elevation | 1,076 ft (328 m) |
Population (April 1, 2010) | |
• Total | 25,938 |
• Estimate (2013) | 27,902 |
• Density | 1,100/sq mi (420/km2) |
Time zone | Pacific (UTC-8) |
• Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) |
ZIP codes | 92240–92241 |
Area codes | 442/760 |
FIPS code | 06-18996 |
GNIS feature IDs | 1656484, 2410328 |
Website | www |
Desert Hot Springs, also known as DHS, is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The city is located within the Coachella Valley geographic region, sometimes referred to as the Desert Empire. The population was 25,938 at the 2010 census, up from 16,582 at the 2000 census. The city has undergone rapid development and high population growth since the 1970s, when there were 2,700 residents.
According to early homesteader and writer Cabot Yerxa in his newspaper columns published in The Desert Sentinel newspaper, the first homesteader in the area of the city of Desert Hot Springs was Hilda Maude Gray, who staked her claim in 1908. Cabot Yerxa arrived in 1913 and soon discovered the hot water aquifer on Miracle Hill. Due to the Mission Creek Branch of the San Andreas Fault bisecting the area, one side is a cold water aquifer, the other has a hot water aquifer. His large Pueblo Revival Style architecture structure, hand built over 20 years, is now one of the oldest adobe-style buildings in Riverside County, and houses Cabot's Pueblo Museum, designated a state historical site after his death in 1965. Cabot's Trading Post & Gallery opened there in February 2008.
The town was founded by L. W. Coffee on July 12, 1941. The original town site was centered at the intersection of Palm Drive and Pierson Boulevard and was only one square mile. Coffee chose the name Desert Hot Springs because of the area's natural hot springs.
Desert Hot Springs became a tourist destination in the 1950s because of its small spa hotels and boutique hotels. The city is popular with "snowbirds."