The Aetna Springs Resort is a historic

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...

located in Pope Valley in the north eastern part of

Napa County Napa County () is a County (United States), county north of San Pablo Bay located in the Northern California, northern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 138,019. The county seat i ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States. It is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Etymology

It was named after a nearby

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

. The spring was so named by the owner of the Aetna Mines, John Lawley, when he discovered the spring in the 1880s.

History

Aetna springs was founded by Chancellor Hartson in 1877. The resort and spa were originally developed by San Francisco advertising executive Len D. Owens who began development of the resort in 1891 after he purchased the property for $35,000 in the 1870s and quickly became a popular summertime destination for vacationers from

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

. Owens was Frances Marion's father. At one time there was a local post office in Napa County called Lidell, California that was named after William H. Lidell, the lessee of Aetna Springs. One of the first golf courses west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

was built on the resort's property in 1920. George Heibel, bought the resort from Owens in 1945. In 1966

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

announced his intention to run for the office of Governor of California in the dining hall at the resort. Heibel sold the resort to Environmental Systems in 1972. The resort again sold in 1976 to New Educational Development Systems, a nonprofit corporation associated with the

Unification Church The Unification Church () is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists or sometimes informally Moonies. It was founded in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon in Seoul, South Korea, as the Holy Spirit Association for the Unificatio ...

. On June 9, 2009 it was announced that the Aetna Springs Resort would close.

Snell Valley Snell Valley is a depression landform in Napa County, California. This feature is located approximately five miles north of Aetna Springs, California, Aetna Springs. The valley is noted for its diversity of wildflowers, and within Snell Valley is ...

lies to the north of Aetna Springs. In early 2012 the Napa County Planning Commission approved plans to renovate existing 28 structures and build a new lodge on the property. The resort property was sold to Alchemy Resorts in 2018. In August 2020, Aetna Springs was evacuated due to the Hennessey Fire, which resulted in the burning of over in five counties, including in Aetna Springs. In 2023, it was announced that the resort will be restored as Six Senses Napa Valley, with a reopening set for 2026.

In literature

Aetna Springs is the locale of

Frances Marion Frances Marion (born Marion Benson Owens; November 18, 1888 – May 12, 1973) was an American screenwriter, director, journalist and author often cited as one of the most renowned female screenwriters of the 20th century alongside June Mathis a ...

's ''Valley People'', a book of short stories published in 1935.Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and the Powerful Women of Early Hollywood, Cari Beauchamp, University of California Press, 1997.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Napa County, California Vaca Mountains Tourist attractions in Napa County, California Springs of Napa County, California

Etymology

History

In literature

See also

References