In 1913 a man by the name of Cabot Yerza homesteaded 160 acres of desert near the Coachella Valley and the present day Joshua Tree National Park in southern California. In this inhospitable land, where most homesteaders failed, Yerza succeeded mainly because of his accidental discovery of underground hot springs.
After building his own shelter and discovering both hot and cold underground water, Yerza went off to World War I and moved away. He returned and by 1940 had begun work on a large building he nicknamed "The Old Indian Pueblo". He continued work on the elaborate adobe structure until his death about 1965.
In 1933, L.W. Coffee, a casual acquaintance of Yerza, formed a trust for settlement of what he named Desert Hot Springs. He hired a well-digger and sold plots of land to potential residents, but everything fell apart in 1938. Coffee renewed his efforts in 1940, successfully creating a town that remains today. In 1941, the first commercial bath house opened. By the 1960s there were 40 "spa-tels."
In 1963, Desert Hot Springs received a charter from the state of California and became an incorporated town. Along with this new status came elected officials and the ability to levy taxes and raise revenues. Since its incorporation, Desert Hot Springs has continued to grow as a desert resort, along with its nearby sister city, Palm Springs. By 2000, it had 5,000 residents.
