NavalConvalescentHospitalArrowheadSpring1944

Arrowhead Springs Hotel a

resort hotel A resort hotel is a hotel which often contains full-sized luxury facilities with full-service accommodations and amenities. These hotels may attract both business conferences and vacationing tourists and offer more than a convenient place to sta ...

, and during

World War 2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Naval Convalescent Hospital Arrowhead Springs, is near the City of

Arrowhead Springs Arrowhead Springs is a highly mountainous neighborhood in the municipality of San Bernardino, California, officially annexed to the city on November 19, 2009. The neighborhood lies below the Arrowhead geological monument, which is California Hist ...

, north of

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cen ...

. Naval Convalescent Hospital Arrowhead Springs was a

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

medical treatment facility during World War 2. The hotel/hospital has an outdoor swimming pool, 130 person theater, natural hot springs, lake, tennis courts and recreational facilities on 1,700 acres in the mountains. From 1961 to 1992, the resort hotel was the headquarters, training center and conference center of

Campus Crusade for Christ Cru (until 2011 known as Campus Crusade for Christ—informally "Campus Crusade" or simply "crusade"—or CCC) is an interdenominational Christian parachurch organization. It was founded in 1951 at the University of California, Los Angeles by B ...

. In May of 2017, the

San Manuel Band of Mission Indians The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians is a federally recognized tribe of Serrano people in San Bernardino County, California.

purchased the resort.

History

The Arrowhead Springs Hotel opened in 1939 as a resort hotel in

San Bernardino Mountains The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at at San Gorgonio Mountain � ...

. It became a popular spot for Hollywood guests. Above the resort on a near by hill is an arrowhead-shaped natural landmark, thus the name. The report was designed by African American architect Paul R. Williams and

Gordon Kaufmann Gordon Bernie Kaufmann (19 March 1888 – 1 March 1949) was an English-born American architect mostly known for his work on the Hoover Dam. Early life On 19 March 1888, Kaufmann was born in Forest Hill, London, England. Education K ...

in the

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style. The land was home to the Yuhaaviatam clan of the

Serrano people The Serrano are an indigenous people of California. They use the autonyms of Taaqtam, meaning "people"; Maarrênga’yam, "people from Morongo"; and Yuhaaviatam, "people of the pines." Today the Maarrênga'yam are enrolled in the Morongo Band o ...

before the resort opened. Before the resort the spot was a small tuberculosis sanitarium center that had a natural steam cave and mud baths that opened in 1864. A 1886 fire bunt down the sanitarium building. A new hotel was built in 1905 and at the same time, the Arrowhead Springs Company was founded selling bottled spring water, Arrowhead Springs water. In 1938 the resort was sold to Hollywood group: Jay Paley, Joseph M. Schenck,

Constance Bennett Constance Campbell Bennett (October 22, 1904 – July 24, 1965) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress and producer. She was a major Hollywood star during the 1920s and 1930s; during the early 1930s, she was the highest-paid ...

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jews, Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-bi ...

Darryl Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of ...

and

Claudette Colbert Claudette Colbert ( ; born Émilie Claudette Chauchoin; September 13, 1903July 30, 1996) was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the late 1920s and progressed to films with the advent of talking pictures ...

for $800,000. A 1938 fire burnt down this second resort. The group spent $1.5 million and built the current resort. The main building is four-story with two wings the center also had 10 bungalows. The interior was designed by Dorothy Draper of New York. Hollywood guests included

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

, and

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

Bugsy Siegel Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was an American mobster who was a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. Siegel was not only influential within the Jewish Mob, but along with his childhood frie ...

was a regular guest also. The resort was used for filming movies, including

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...

in High Sierra in 1941. The

leased the

on 7.5-acre and turned it into a 149 room hospital that opened in June of 1944, also called Naval Special Hospital, Arrowhead Springs. It was opened to help with the overcrowing at

US Naval Hospital Corona The Lake Norconian Club is a historic former hotel/resort in Norco, California, opened in 1929, sited in a rural community, whose main businesses were poultry, rabbits, and agriculture. It was later known as The Norconian (sometimes billed as Th ...

. In June 1944, 500 patients were transferred from Corona to Arrowhead Springs. At the end of the war, in November 1945, when the Hospital closed over 5800 troops had been cared for at the Hospital. After the war it returned to a resort hotel.

Esther Williams Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Ol ...

made a movie,

Thrill of a Romance ''Thrill of a Romance'' (also known as ''Thrill of a New Romance'') is an American Technicolor romance film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1945, starring Van Johnson, Esther Williams and Carleton G. Young, with musical performances by Tommy D ...

in 1945. In 1946, the resort was purchased the Hull group of Chicago. Then in 1946, sold to

Conrad Hilton Conrad Nicholson Hilton Sr. (December 25, 1887 – January 3, 1979) was an American businessman who founded the Hilton Hotels chain. From 1912 to 1916 Hilton was a Republican representative in the first New Mexico Legislature, but became disil ...

for $2 million. In 1950

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

and Nicky Hilton honeymooned at the resort. Sold again in 1951 to

Hilton Hotel Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton. The original company was founded by Conrad Hilton. As ...

, then to Campus Crusade for Christ in 1961. Campus Crusade for Christ moved to

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

in 1991. In March of 1992, the resort went for sale with no buyers. The resort was vacant till sold to San Manuel in 2017.San Bernardino Historical Society, by Steve Shaw

Gallery

File:FirstArrowheadSpringsHotel.JPG, First Arrowhead Springs Hotel, opened in 1864 and burnt down in 1886 File:SecondArrowheadSpringsHotelCalifornia1886.jpg, Second Arrowhead Springs Hotel, opened in 1886 and burned in 1895 File:ThirdArrowheadSpringsHotel1905.jpg, Third Arrowhead Springs Hotel, opened in 1905 and burned in 1939 File:SanBernardinoValley-1907-loc.jpg, Arrowhead Springs Hotel, circa 1907 Image:arrowheadarch1929.jpg, Arrowhead Springs Resort Archway. circa 1929 File:Arrowhead, California.JPG, Natural Arrowhead shape near Arrowhead Springs Hotel

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arrowhead Springs Hotel 1940s in California History of California United States in World War II 1864 establishments in California Military installations closed in 1945 Resorts in California

History

Gallery

See also

References