Gilman's Relief Hot Springs cottages 1920

Gilman Hot Springs, also known as San Jacinto Hot Springs or the Relief Springs, is a

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

system in the

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County to the west. It includes the cities o ...

area of Southern California. Located near Potrero Creek, the San Jacinto River, and

California State Route 79 State Route 79 (SR 79) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. The route begins at Interstate 8 (California), Interstate 8 (I-8) in San Diego County, California, San Diego County, continuing north through the town of Cuyamaca, Cal ...

, the springs system consists of "about half a dozen" springs named for the Mexican land grant

Rancho San Jacinto Viejo Rancho San Jacinto Viejo was a Mexican land grant in present-day Riverside County, California given in 1842 by Governor Pro-tem Manuel Jimeno to José Antonio Estudillo. At the time of the US Patent, Rancho San Jacinto Viejo was a part of San Die ...

. The springs emerge from a granitic alluvium formation that formed a marsh area. Gilman Hot Springs, along with Eden Hot Springs and Soboba Hot Springs, was one of a cluster of geothermally heated water sources along a

fault line In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...

at the western base of the

San Jacinto Mountains The San Jacinto Mountains (''Avii Hanupach''Munro, P., et al. ''A Mojave Dictionary''. Los Angeles: UCLA. 1992. in Mojave) are a mountain range in Riverside County, located east of Los Angeles in southern California in the United States. The mou ...

History

According to one account, "Indians" used the springs to clean off sheep prior to shearing. According to another, the

Cahuilla The Cahuilla , also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California. The Branch family began homesteading the property, partially acquired from the Southern Pacific railroad, in 1880 or 1881. Beginning in 1888, Sidney Branch of

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

developed the springs and built the Relief Springs Hotel there. In 1895 the ''Los Angeles Times'' described the retreat as having three springs: the main sulphur spring was , the mud spring was , and a secondary water spring was . The springs resort could be reached via the

Beaumont Beaumont may refer to: Places Canada * Beaumont, Alberta * Beaumont, Quebec England * Beaumont, Cumbria * Beaumont, Essex **Beaumont Cut, a canal closed in the 1930s * Beaumont Street, Oxford France (communes) * Beaumont, Ardèche * Be ...

station of the

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

line, and then via an omnibus the remaining to the springs. In the 1890s, it was sometimes advertised as Relief Hot Mud Springs. Relief Hot Springs San Jacinto 1907

In 1913, the property was sold for $53,000 ($ today) to three brothers: William Earl Gilman (and his wife Josephine), Grant Gilman, and Forest Gilman.

Lech Lech may refer to: People * Lech (name), a name of Polish origin * Lech, the legendary founder of Poland * Lech (Bohemian prince) Products and organizations * Lech (beer), Polish beer produced by Kompania Piwowarska, in Poznań * Lech Poznań, ...

, p. 72 They were natives of

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa language, Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the Capital (political), capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the County seat, seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the ...

, and William E. Gilman had previously owned a hotel in Ocean Park that had burned in 1912. The Gilmans changed the name to Gilman Relief Hot Springs and later to Gilman Hot Springs. The original hotel reportedly had just five rooms. Gilman Hot Springs was one of three hot springs resorts near San Jacinto that offered visitors mineral water baths,

mud bath A mud bath is a bath of mud, commonly found in areas where hot spring water can combine with volcanic ash. Mud baths have a long history that dates back thousands of years. Mud baths are conceived as public bathing spaces created in open areas ...

s and the opportunity to drink the hot mineral waters bubbling up from the

San Jacinto Fault The San Jacinto Fault Zone (SJFZ) is a major strike-slip fault zone that runs through San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, and Imperial Counties in Southern California. The SJFZ is a component of the larger San Andreas transform system and i ...

, an offshoot of the

San Andreas Fault The San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that extends roughly through California. It forms the tectonics, tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, and its motion is Fault (geology)#Strike-slip fau ...

. In 1913 the Gilman brothers built a bathhouse and a spring-fed swimming pool was built the following year. Later, the pool was expanded to an Olympic size. The resort was said to have a "frame hotel and cottages and tents forming a little settlement in a grove adjacent to the springs. Besides the usual tub baths there are mud baths that use material from the

tule ''Schoenoplectus acutus'' ( syn. ''Scirpus acutus, Schoenoplectus lacustris, Scirpus lacustris'' subsp. ''acutus''), called tule , common tule, hardstem tule, tule rush, hardstem bulrush, or viscid bulrush, is a giant species of sedge in the pl ...

marsh". In 1917 a U.S. government geologist reported: "At the Relief group six thermal springs issue from a bank of disintegrated granite, and considerable water also rises in an adjacent marshy area several acres in extent. The place has been a resort for more than 20 years, a frame hotel and cottages and tents forming a little settlement in a grove adjacent to the springs." A fire in the winter 1917 "razed all the original buildings and demolished all the initial improvements the Gilmans had made". The replacement hotel was built with "bricks and timbers salvaged from an old San Jacinto school building". Many visitors arrived by train via San Jacinto, where they were met by representatives of the hotel to be transported to the resort.

, p. 76 In 1930, visitors could get to Gilman's Hot Springs by either taking the

Pacific Electric The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...

to Riverside and there connecting with a Motor Transit stage, or by taking a

Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and S ...

train to San Jacinto, where an auto stage would then ferry them to the springs resort. A San Bernardino newspaper columnist later recalled the early years of the resort: "As a youth I used to hunt quail and rabbits along the San Jacinto River and, of course, always retired to Gilman's, where even in those days, there was a lunch counter which did, as I remember, a thriving business. Then, sometime later, my father was a patient at the resort, taking the spring water and mud baths, for a rheumatic condition. I frequently visited him there. He occupied one of the one-room houses, a tiny place. In those days, nobody ever heard of golf, but the buggies and rigs of all types jammed the grounds of the springs." The resort had its own golf course alongside the San Jacinto River. It was originally opened with nine holes in 1930; the course was later expanded to 27 holes before being destroyed in a flood. Other activities for visitors included hiking in the hills and walks within the resort. The resort had a dance hall, with weekly dances on Fridays accompanied by piano, violin and drums.

, p. 79 A variety of events were held at the property such as beauty contests. By 1940 there were 127 buildings on the property, accommodations for 400, horse stables, and tennis courts. The stable was later converted to a tavern. A service station and garage for use by visitors was added later that decade. In 1943, golf was 50¢ on weekdays, 75¢ on weekends and holidays, rooms cost $1.50 to $4 a night, and spa treatments including Roman mud baths and California

mud baths. By the end of the 1950s, travel guides also promised "hiking, painting, badminton, horseshoes, ping pong, croquet, square dancing, modern dancing, motion pictures, and all sorts of planned activities and events for both youngsters and their parents". The ''Riverside Community Book'' of 1954 described it as a "moderately priced family resort". Guests during the resort's heyday reportedly included

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...

and

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

Sugar Ray Robinson Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regarded ...

, and an unidentified president of Ireland. In 1963, William Earl Gilman II developed the nearby Massacre Canyon Inn, located on the south side of Gilman Springs Road, to accommodate dining and dancing. A training camp for boxers was also built in the grounds of the resort and was in use in the late 1960s. Among the boxers who used the facility were

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...

Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and is the on ...

Sugar Ray Leonard Ray Charles Leonard (born May 17, 1956), best known as "Sugar" Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed professiona ...

Ray Mancini Ray Mancini (born Raymond Michael Mancino; March 4, 1961), best known as "Boom Boom" Mancini, is an American former professional boxer who competed professionally from 1979 to 1992 and who has since worked as an actor and sports commentator. H ...

Armando Muniz Armando may refer to: * Armando (given name) * Armando (artist) (1929–2018), the name used by Dutch artist Herman Dirk van Dodeweerd * Armando (producer) Armando Gallop (sometimes written as Armando Gallup) (February 12, 1970 – December 17, ...

, Rubén Navarro,

Ken Norton Kenneth Howard Norton Sr. (August 9, 1943 – September 18, 2013) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1967 to 1981, and held the WBC world heavyweight championship in 1978. He is best known for his fights with Muhammad Ali, i ...

and

Jerry Quarry Jerry Quarry (May 15, 1945 – January 3, 1999), nicknamed "Irish" or "The Bellflower Bomber", was an American professional boxer. During the peak of his career from 1968 to 1971, Quarry was rated by ''The Ring'' magazine as the most popular ...

BPL Tichnor Postcards - Gilman Hot Springs San Jacinto Riverside CA 06

The Gilmans attempted to sell out in 1971 for an estimated . However in 1973 the property was still in their hands. The resort had come to be known as the Massacre Canyon Inn, after the hotel built in 1963, in turn named for a nearby landmark canyon that connects to the Beaumont Badlands via Potrero Creek. After the resort went into bankruptcy in 1978 the property was acquired by the

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a scientology as a business, bu ...

for $2.78 million ($ today).

L. Ron Hubbard Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author, primarily of science fiction and fantasy stories, who is best known for having founded the Church of Scientology. In 1950, Hubbard authored '' Dianetic ...

lived at the compound (called

Gold Base Gold Base (also variously known as Gold, Golden Era Productions, Int Base, or Int) is the ''de facto'' international headquarters of the Church of Scientology, located north of San Jacinto, California, United States, about from Los Angeles. The ...

) for a brief period prior to 1980. It is now a heavily guarded compound surrounded by high fences topped with razor wire and spikes, with a prison building nicknamed " The Hole", and is inaccessible to the public. The Church of Scientology demolished the Massacre Canyon Inn, the Gilman Garage, and the golf course to make way for new buildings. The nine-hole

Golden Era ''The Golden Era'' was a 19th-century San Francisco newspaper. The publication featured the writing of f.e.g. Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Charles Warren Stoddard (writing at first as "Pip Pepperpod"), Fitz Hugh Ludlow, Adah Isaacs Menken, Ada Clare, ...

golf course was located near the former Gilman Hot Springs circa 1997.

Location

The hot springs are located on

, north-northwest of San Jacinto. In 1938, Gilman Hot Springs had a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

; currently its ZIP code is 92583, shared with San Jacinto.ZIP Code Lookup
/ref> Josephine Gilman was postmaster from 1937 to 1942. Gilman Springs,

Eden Springs Mey Eden ( he, מי עדן, literally "Waters of Eden", also known as "Mayanot Eden" or "Mei Eden")Scottish Palestine Solidarity CampaignEden Springs accessed 4 January 2022 is the brand name of the company Eden Springs Ltd., which is an Israel ...

, Soboda Springs, and

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...

all lay along the same seismic fault at the base of the

Riverside County, California Riverside County is a County (United States), county located in the southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most ...

. The Gilman Hot Springs were southeast of the Eden Springs.

Water profile

The hot spring water emerges from the source at . There were four main spring sources on the property: Black Sulphur, White Sulphur, Soda, and Lithia. It was claimed that drinking the water had health benefits.

, p. 75 Advertisements in the 1920s called the hot springs "the ALL YEAR RESORT where the sick can be won back to health and where those in health can keep that way."

, p. 77 According to a U.S. government geologist the spring water is sulphureted with an

alkaline In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a base (chemistry), basic, ionic compound, ionic salt (chemistry), salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as ...

taste.

Efflorescent In chemistry, efflorescence (which means "to flower out" in French) is the migration of a salt to the surface of a porous material, where it forms a coating. The essential process involves the dissolving of an internally held salt in water, or ...

alkaline salts collect along the banks beside the springs, and the iron and sulphide contents in the water stained towels and enameled tubs. Per his detailed description of 1917, "An analysis of water from the spring that is used chiefly for bathing shows the general character of the waters from these springs, though they differ somewhat in taste and doubtless in the relative amounts of substances in solution. The water analyzed is rather highly mineralized and of the sodium-chloride type, though sulphate is an important constituent. Carbonate is absent and bicarbonate is remarkably low in amount." Mineral springs in the San Jacinto Basin

Mineral springs in the San Jacinto Basin

Gallery

References

Citations

Sources

* *

External links

* {{url, https://digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/78924, 1840s map of Rancho San Jacinto Viejo, showing water sources * 1960s ads marketing Gilma
for dining
an
for drinking
1913 establishments in California 1970s disestablishments in California Balneotherapy Geothermal areas History of Riverside County, California Hot springs of California Springs of Riverside County, California Tourist attractions in Riverside County, California