Highland Springs, Lake County, California
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Highland Springs (formerly Highland) is a set of springs which was turned into a resort in the 19th century in Lake County,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. The resort grew to be able to accommodate 200 people, attracted by the curative powers of the mineral waters and the lovely mountain scenery. In the 1920s its popularity waned, the hotel was partly burned, and it passed through various hands before the county claimed eminent domain, bought the property, and flooded it with the
Highland Springs Reservoir Highland Springs Reservoir is a reservoir located about 4.5 miles southwest of Kelseyville, California adjacent to Highland Springs. The area around the reservoir as well as the reservoir itself is a popular recreation site with activities such as ...
. The reservoir is surrounded by the Highland Springs Recreation Area, managed by the county.


Location

The Highland Springs are southwest of Kelseyville. They are in the edge of the mountains that border the flat Big Valley area to the west of
Clear Lake (California) Clear Lake (Pomo: ''Lypoyomi'') is a natural freshwater lake in Lake County in the U.S. state of California, north of Napa County and San Francisco. It is the largest natural freshwater lake wholly within the state, with of surface area. At ...
. It is at an elevation of 1483 feet (452 m). OpenStreetMap shows the Old Toll Road branching off to the southeast from the LakeportHopland Road ( CA175) just east of Hopland. The road turns east, and when it passes from
Mendocino County Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish for "of Mendoza) is a county located on the North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,601. The county seat is Ukiah. Mendocino County consists whol ...
to Lake County it changes name to Highland Springs Road. It continues east through Highland Springs, then turns north past
Highland Springs Reservoir Highland Springs Reservoir is a reservoir located about 4.5 miles southwest of Kelseyville, California adjacent to Highland Springs. The area around the reservoir as well as the reservoir itself is a popular recreation site with activities such as ...
to join CA29 / CA175 just east of Lampson Field and south of Lakeport. An 1890 guide said the springs could be reached by the
Southern Pacific Railroad 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 ...
to Calistoga, then by stage, or by the
Northern Pacific Railroad The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by 38th United States Congress, Congress in 1864 and given ...
to Cloverdale, then by stage. The stage, whether from Calistoga or from Cloverdale, was exceedingly picturesque, along winding roads through rugged country. Accounts from the early 20th century before CA175 had been built place Highland Springs on the road between Hopland and Kelseyville. The resort was east of Pieta on the main road to Lakeport.


Springs

As of 1910, there were 11 springs. Seltzer Spring emerged at the base of a gentle slope about southeast of the hotel. The others springs issued west to northwest of the hotel in a distance of about along the western bank of the creek. All the springs were carbonated, and their basins stained by iron. Small amounts of lime carbonate were deposited at several places. South of the springs, along the road westward from the hotel, a deposit of lime carbonate several feet thick was exposed for or more. The springs issue mainly from crushed sandstone and shale. They are considered to be thermal carbonated springs, but are mainly known for their carbonated waters. Seltzer Spring was protected by a latticed spring house and rose in a cemented basin. The temperature of the water was and its discharge was about per minute. The water was strongly carbonated and it deposited considerable iron. Neptune Spring, the southernmost of those along the creek, was about west of the hotel. The spring rose in a small drinking pool in the center of an oval cemented basin, several feet across, on a gentle slope at the base of a low bank. The water had a temperature of . Its flow was slight, but it was piped to a small bathing plunge a few yards away. Diana Spring and Magnesia Spring rose in cemented basins a few yards apart at the base of a small bank northward and nearer the creek. Water from Diana supplied a small bathing plunge near by, whereas Magnesia was used only for drinking. The recorded temperatures of these springs were and , and their flows were, respectively, about and per minute. From about 30 to nearly 55 yards beyond the Magnesia Spring much water rose beneath a platform. This water supplied an adjacent bathhouse and was also piped across the creek to a swimming plunge. Temperatures of were recorded at different points beneath the platform. The discharge was about per minute. There were two small pools with slight overflow along the creek bank a few yards north of the bathhouse and an iron-stained seepage area extended about along the creek edge. Beyond this area there was a small board-curbed pool which discharged about a minute of water at in temperature. Gas bubbles up through the water of the creek at several places. beyond, at the northern end of the line of springs, Arsenic and Dutch springs rose in separate compartments of a circular, cemented basin near the creek edge. Their recorded temperatures were, respectively, and . Arsenic Spring yielded approximately per minute and Dutch Spring perhaps twice as much. The Dutch (or Ems) is crystal clear and the Arsenic is milky.


History

Highland Springs began as a resort in the 1870s. The first Highland Springs post office opened in 1875 and closed in 1880. The Highland post office opened in 1880, changed its name to Highland Springs in 1884, and closed in 1921. An 1885 advertisement by Dr. C.M. Bates, Sole Proprietor, described Highland Springs Sanitarium as the Switzerland of America, and said it was "sheltered from the chilling coast winds and fogs by mountains 1,600 feel in height, which, for grandeur and beauty of scenery, are unsurpassed on the Pacific Coast, while the beneficial effects of its mineral waters are equal to any in the United States or Europe. An 1890 guide said, As of 1910 a large frame hotel and half a dozen cottages situated in a small flat along the course of Adobe Creek provided accommodations for 200 guests. In 1914 the owners were Craig & Stephons, Inc., of
Woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...
. The resort could accommodate 315 guests, and had a resident physician during the summer season. were being maintained as a fishing and hunting preserve. The water was not bottled for sale. The resort's mineral waters became less popular in the 1920s. Part of the hotel burned, and the property was sold to Neal Woods, who planned to open a casino on the property. It passed to a sheep rancher, and then to a physician who converted the remains of the hotel into his family home. In the 1960s Lake County bought the property under
eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...
, dammed Highland Creek and Adobe Creek, and flooded the resort property with the
Highland Springs Reservoir Highland Springs Reservoir is a reservoir located about 4.5 miles southwest of Kelseyville, California adjacent to Highland Springs. The area around the reservoir as well as the reservoir itself is a popular recreation site with activities such as ...
. As of 2021 the Highland Springs Recreation Area was managed by the County of Lake Watershed Protection District. It contained Highland Springs Reservoir and Adobe Reservoir. Vegetation included open range or scrub and oak woodland. The steeper hillsides were mostly open
chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...
. Visitors could engage in hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, disc golf, paddling, fishing, hunting, picnicking and swimming. Highland Springs Disc Golf Course was established in 1980 between the hamlet and the reservoir. The reservoir is stocked with warm water fish such as
largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...
, sunfish,
bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose" as is common in Texas, is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and ...
,
catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...
and bullhead.


References


Sources

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