The History of Coachella Valley and its Cities:

The History of Coachella Valley and its Towns
By Arthur Shapiro

This series describes our desert community. The first episode is about the valley and its namesake city.

Let’s start with a little-known fact about the origin of the name Coachella.

The first person to make a permanent home in Coachella (valley and town) was a man named Jason L. Rector, who came from Iowa. He is known as the founder of the town. According to the story, he and his brother set out to develop the town and needed a name.

History of the Desert &
Its Nine Cities

Shortly after moving to the Del Webb Rancho Mirage community, I started writing for the monthly newsletter. Among the stories was a series on the Coachella Valley and its nine cities. (I also included an article on Sunnylands Center & Gardens, the Annenberg Estate.)

All the stories and articles are in this section.

Palm Springs By Arthur Shapiro

Let’s look at the (arguably) Crown Jewel of the desert, Palm Springs.

Some basic facts: The city covers approximately 94 square miles, making it the largest city in Riverside County by land area.

The population, as of the 2020 census, is around 45,000. However, the city's population tripled between November and March because it is a retirement location and a winter snowbird destination. (You can tell by the traffic.) The median age is 56, and the average household income is over $110,000 annually.

Desert Hot Springs By Arthur Shapiro

Desert Hot Springs is a city of about 34,000. The city’s location is unique; it sits atop two hot and cold aquifers. Its many spas have led to its nickname, “Spa City.” It’s a rapidly growing city and, since the 2020 census, has grown over 6%.

Desert Hot Springs was incorporated on September 17, 1963, but its history goes back much further. One of the first homesteaders was a man named Cabot Yerxa, who came to the desert in 1913. As the story goes, “He walked in during the night from the railroad with some food in a paper bag and a quart of water, but he had no blanket. For two weeks, he kept warm at night by a campfire and slept some in the daytime by lying on the sand warmed by the sunshine.” Eventually, through grit and determination, he contributed greatly to the area. In fact, the Cabot Pueblo Museum is an iconic place he built inspired by the Hopi native Americans.

Cathedral City By Arthur Shapiro

We continue our series about desert cities by visiting the town between Rancho Mirage and Palm Springs. This city has the second-largest population, after Indio, of the nine cities in the Coachella Valley. Its population was 51,493 at the 2020 census, slightly increased from 51,200 at the 2010 census.

Before explorers and settlers, the land was part of the territory inhabited by the Cahuilla Indians. Today, every other square mile of the city is part of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians' reservation land. The development of a town began when a housing subdivision was built in 1925, although the city was not incorporated until 1981.

Rancho Mirage By Arthur Shapiro

Drum Roll, please! We come to our hometown, the town we live in. We started our journey with Coachella and have been working our way northwest
through the valley. Now it’s our turn.

Let’s start with some basic information about our beloved city. Of the nine cities in the valley, Rancho Mirage is next to the smallest population (only Indian Wells is smaller), with roughly 17,000 people as of the 2020 census.

The Annenbergs and Sunnylands
By Arthur Shapiro

Walter Annenberg was an amazing person. He was a prominent American
philanthropist, publisher, and diplomat born in 1908 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He inherited his father's publishing business, which included the popular newspaper The Philadelphia Inquirer. He expanded the family's media business by forming Triangle Publications, which included TV Guide, the Daily Racing Form, and Seventeen magazines.

(I knew of Walter Annenberg and his media empire during my marketing and media days. I couldn’t help but wonder how he became a billionaire from those publications. But he did. TV Guide alone had a circulation of 20 million.)

Palm Desert By Arthur Shapiro

We spend more time In Palm Desert than any other city among the nine in Coachella Valley. We’re always heading that way to shop, run errands, and dine out.

Let’s take a closer look at the history of the third largest city, larger than Palm Springs, with over 52,000 residents and one of the state's fastest growing since 1980, when its population was 11,801. It was incorporated in 1973 and officially became a city in 1997.

Indian Wells By Arthur Shapiro

Indian Wells, Incorporated in 1967, lies between Palm Desert and La
Quinta. With a population of around 5,500, it is the smallest of the nine cities in the Coachella Valley. But what it lacks in population, it more than makes up for in the affluence of its residents and its rich history.

Let’s start with history. As early as 1820, the area now known as Indian Wells was the site of a thriving Indian village. A decade later, when gold was discovered on the Colorado River, a trail was built from Los Angeles through the desert to the gold mines. Indian Wells became an important stop along the trail until the Southern Pacific Railroad forced its abandonment. By 1875, Wells Fargo reactivated it.

Indio By Arthur Shapiro

It is very appropriate to focus on Indio, the most populous city in Coachella Valley, in the spring. Indio is known as the City of Festivals and home of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and The Stagecoach Festival; both take place at the end of April.

With a 2020 population of 94,150, it is the 83rd largest city in California, the 363rd largest city in the United States, and currently growing at 0.85% annually. Its populationhas increased by 23.82% since the 2010 census, which recorded a population of 76,036 then. It is considered by many travel writers and press as one of the top emerging destinations in the country.

La Quinta By Arthur Shapiro

La Quinta (Spanish for "The Fifth") is located between Indian Wells and Indio and is almost entirely surrounded by the Santa Rosa Mountains. It’s very
interesting from many standpoints: geology, history, world-class events, and fun to visit. Oh, and there’s lots of golf.

La Quinta is located on the floor of the Coachella Valley. As the valley sank, the Pacific Ocean covered it. Silt deposits from the Colorado River’s flow into the Gulf of California cut the basin off from the ocean. Five hundred years ago, the Colorado River changed its course, and the east Coachella Valley flooded, creating Lake Cahuilla, which is fresh water.