Things to do / Travel Guide
Take a journey through time by exploring the historical attractions of the California. Long lost communities will come to life as visitors encounter ancient canyons, abandoned towns, and other artifacts from the region's past.
Historical Attractions in Palm Springs
Palm Springs boasts a few unique attractions that offer a glimpse into the region's history. The most impressive example is known as Indian Canyons, located outside of the city on South Palm Canyon Drive. This area is the homeland of the Agua Caliente tribe of Native Americans, who derived their name from the area's hot springs. Still tribal property, five different canyons are open to the public which are each chock-full of the remnants of the ancient group's history. Treasures such as native rock art thousands of years old, ancient irrigation canals, and traces of long lost communities and households are found throughout these canyons, all of which are surrounded by beautiful scenery.
Built in 1884, the McCallum Adobe is the oldest house in the city and serves as a window into an earlier time in Palm Springs, when it wasn't all movie star homes, golf courses, and world-class spas. The house is home to a museum which exhibits the history of the home, the city of Palm Springs, and of the Coachella Valley as a whole.
Historical Attractions in San Bernardino
One of the best historical (and architectural) attractions in the city of San Bernardino is the local historical society itself. The Heritage House, a Victorian home built in 1891 and converted into a library in recent years, is the current home of the historical society, meaning you can probably kill two birds with one stone through a visit to this site. San Bernardino's very first jail, an archaic-looking self-contained box built sometime around 1857, is also located on the grounds.
Calico Ghost Town
Located 10 miles north of Barstow, at the side of King Mountain, this one-time silver-mining boomtown built in 1881 was once home to over 500 mines (and about 22 saloons for the 1,200 residents) in its heyday. Calico bills itself a “living museum,” with “living history” reenactments and is one of the better-restored ghost towns in the United States. Calling itself “a walk you'll never forget,” the Calico Ghost Walk is a 90-minute after-dark tour of the ghost town streets held every Saturday from February-November, highlighting the history of the town, both natural and supernatural.
Historical Attractions in the northern California Desert
Up in the northern reaches of the region, the town of Independence boasts a few preserved historical structures befitting its history as the seat of Inyo County ever since 1860. These include the Edwards House, built in 1861 (the oldest house in the county) and the striking commander's house, built in 1872 to house the commanders of the original Camp Independence, where today's town now stands. Visitors should also check out the Slim Princess in Dehy Park, located at the town's north entrance. A long-retired locomotive that last saw service in 1954, the Slim Princess has been restored and commemorates the history of rail workers and railroad travelers in the area.
Another famous (or infamous) historical site in the area is the Manzanar National Historic Site, the location of the United States' first internment camp built for Japanese Americans in WWII. The remains of a number of structures can still be seen, and these skeletal buildings, in combination with the stark remoteness of the area and the overwhelming silence and stillness of the site, can send a chill down your spine as you explore a monument from one of the darkest chapters in American history.
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