Completed in 1919, the library was constructed with a $10,000 grant from industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Calexico's Woman's Improvement Club and the Farmers and Merchants Club encouraged the city to apply for the Carnegie funds. In . . . — — Map (db m62070) HM
Here on September 23, 1849, Liet. Cave J. Couts, Escourt Commander, International Boundary Commission, established Camp Salvation. From September till the first of December 1849, it served as a refugee center for distressed emigrants attempting to . . . — — Map (db m50586) HM
At this historic spot the first irrigation water from the Colorado River reached Imperial Valley in 1901, coming from Mexico. This waterway was replaced in 1942 by the All-American Canal. Water has made this once arid area into an agricultural . . . — — Map (db m176186) HM
The Hotel De Anza was opened on May 28, 1931 by Will R. Conway, an experienced hotelman. The $48,000 cost was partly financed by Calexico citizens. It was opened with a big celebration after being built in only four month. The hotel featured three . . . — — Map (db m62071) HM
This property
has been placed on the
National Register
of Historic Places
By the United States
Department of the Interior
United States Inspection Station
c. 1933 — — Map (db m62072) HM
Camacho's Place was opened for business on December 12, 1946 by Richard Camacho and his wife, Juanita. It is erected on the site of a former Seventh-Day Adventist church and school that had been damaged and abandoned following a major earthquake on . . . — — Map (db m62073) HM
The Imperial Valley Press was established in 1901 with the aid of W.F. Holt in the town of Imperial and was known as the Imperial Press. Mr. Holt moved the paper to the new city of El Centro in 1906 and changed the name to the Imperial Valley Press. . . . — — Map (db m105982) HM
In 1908 Hardy McConnell and son, Leslie, (A Native Son) left Temescal Canyon, near Corona, enroute to settle in Imperial Valley, driving two teams of horses pulling wagons, hauling farm implements, chickens and leading a cow.
Fourteen days later . . . — — Map (db m81635) HM
On Friday January 15, 1847 the Mormon Battalion, a volunteer unit of the Army of the West, crossed Interstate Highway 8 approximately seven miles west of this point. Lieutenant Colonel Philip St. George Cooke commanded this battalion when the . . . — — Map (db m191654) HM WM
Established and organized in 1908 as the Men Club to promote the city of El Centro, their first goal was for El Centro to reach a population of 10,000 residents. On October 30, 1908 the women took over the club and renamed it the Women's 10,000 . . . — — Map (db m101569) HM
Known as Santa Rosa De Las Lajas (Flat Rocks), this site was used on March 8, 1774 by the Anza exploring expedition, opening the land route from Sonora, Mexico, to Alta California. On December 11 to 15, 1775 the three divisions of Anza's colonizing . . . — — Map (db m62074) HM
Camp Pilot Knob was a unit of the Desert Training Center, established by General George S. Patton Jr., to prepare American troops for battle during World War II. It was the largest military training ground ever to exist. At the peak of activity here . . . — — Map (db m50590) HM
A 1533 expedition sent by Hernan Cortes discovered Baja California,
leading to the name "California" and the belief that it was the famed
Island of California which then appeared on maps of the era.
Exploration and Cartography
. . . — — Map (db m165827) HM
Harold Bell Wright rose from poverty to become "America's favorite author" for the first three decades of the 20th Century.
Many of his 19 books were best sellers and made into both "silent" and later "talkies". They include '"The Winning of . . . — — Map (db m62033) HM
E Clampus Vitus marker dedicated 1983
Holtville
W. F. Holt established this townsite in 1903; built the first electric power plant at 3rd and Holt, the Holton Interurban RR; started the first church, the first newspaper and donated . . . — — Map (db m62031) HM
The church was organized January 14, 1911. The building was constructed the same year on one-half acre of land given by W.J. Seat, located one-quarter mile south of this site. The founders saw Imperial Valley as a land of opportunity for their . . . — — Map (db m153393) HM
From their arrival in Fall, 1901, Swiss and their "Americans of Swiss Descent" have contributed greatly to the ethnic diversity of this valley. Their Schwingfests since 1921 and this club since 1924 have celebrated both their ancestral traditions . . . — — Map (db m108846) HM
Emil Schaffner arrived from Rufenach, Switzerland, through Ellis Island, in 1914, bound for Imperial Valley. He began working in Calexico for Judge Towland, insisting on being paid in cattle. In 1921, Emil established "Schaffner Dairy" and it has . . . — — Map (db m219773) HM
Prolific author Harold Bell Wright purchased 160 acres here in 1907. While living in a tent he built Rancho El Tecolote, constructing a woven arrow weed studio in 1908 and a ranch house in 1909. From 1907 to 1916 he wrote three best sellers, . . . — — Map (db m62032) HM
The largest gravity fed irrigation district in the western hemisphere, established in 1911. They later assumed control of several water companies and were instrumental in getting the Hoover Dam and the All American Canal built.
They commenced . . . — — Map (db m62035) HM
This Memorial Erected
in Honor of Those Who
Served Their Country
in Time of War
By Veteran's Memorial Housing Committee - May 30, 1941 • Representing County Board of Supervisors - Hugh T. Osborne • Representing veterans of the war with . . . — — Map (db m81827) WM
On this the fiftieth anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor - The people of the Imperial Valley pay tribute to those Pearl Harbor Survivors from the valley who were members of the armed forces and served their country honorably in the . . . — — Map (db m85978) WM
In 1774, Spain opened an overland route from Sonora to California but it was closed by Yuma Indians in 1781. In 1822, Mexico attempted to reopen this route. Lt. Romualdo Pacheco and soldiers built an adobe fort at this site in 1825-26, the only . . . — — Map (db m50589) HM
Bert Vaughn of Jacumba built the stone tower in 1922-23 to commemorate the pioneers and road and railroad builders who opened the area. In the 1930s W.T. Ratcliffe carved the stone animal figures which lurk in the rocks surrounding the tower, . . . — — Map (db m149171) HM
From 1862-70, Peter Larkin and Joe Stancliff used a stone house about a mile north of here as a store from which ox teams pulled wagons up a 30% grade. The San Diego and Fort Yuma Turnpike Co. used the site as a toll road station until 1876. The . . . — — Map (db m50232) HM
Three miles east of Niland are the remains of Camp Dunlap, established 15 October 1942 as a training base of the 12th Marines, the Artillery Regiment of the 3rd Marine Division. The camp was named in honor of Brigadier General Robert H. Dunlap, . . . — — Map (db m172159) HM
Salvation Mountain is Leonard Knight's tribute to God and His gift to the world. Leonard came to Slab City in 1984. Over the following 28 years, he devoted himself to the creation of Salvation Mountain. This folk art monument is Leonard's way of . . . — — Map (db m114547) HM
This is the culmination of a personal religious intensity few mortals will ever experience. Started as a temporary monument to God's love in 1984 by Leonard Knight, it grew into the worldwide phenomenon you see before you.
Born on November 1, . . . — — Map (db m114541) HM
Juan Bautista De Anza led two groups of Spanish explorers and settlers across this portion of the Colorado Desert from Northern Mexico to San Francisco Bay. During each tortuous passage, the Spanish camped below here in Yuha Wash. The passage in . . . — — Map (db m50683) HM
A geoglyph is one type of earthen art that is created on a
massive scale across open stretches of desert land and
plateaus. Their placement connects them to the land in which
they're based. Geoglyphs can be hundreds to thousands . . . — — Map (db m193807) HM
The Imperial Valley College Desert Museum represents the creative vision of noted archaeologist and anthropologist Jay Crawford von Werlhof (1923-2009)
A prolific author, von Werlhof wrote many scholarly books and articles on the archaeology . . . — — Map (db m82451) HM
Welcome to Mortero Wash in Anza-Borrego
Desert State Park.
The volcanic landscape you see in this
section of the desert posed a significant
challenge for travelers.
Undeterred, John D. Spreckels had an
ambition to build a railroad that . . . — — Map (db m193810) HM
Used by the Kamias Indians who showed it to Anza's scouts on March 8, 1774. The second Anza Expedition passed here on December 11, 1775. Later an important water source on the trail from Yuma to San Diego. — — Map (db m50363) HM
The historic gold mining community of Obregon lies near here in the Cargo Muchacho Mountains. As a frontier town, Obregon marks the location of several attempts to extract ore during the 1890s through the 1930s. Several different milling . . . — — Map (db m51577) HM
Near this spot, situated on the west bank of the Colorado River, about 45 miles north of Fort Yuma, Camp Gaston was established in 1859 by Captain Henry S. Burton, Company F 3rd Artillery. The camp served as a supply post for the Hoffman Expedition . . . — — Map (db m138177) HM
When Jim Taylor acquired his ferry in 1922, he had just completed his connecting, hand-made highway on both sides of the Colorado River. His plan to attract the Los Angeles to Phoenix traffic had faded with the continued success of the . . . — — Map (db m138179) HM
"California is one of the richest repositories of Native American rock art in North America.
Rock art - is an inclusive term for symbols created on natural rock surface.
pictograph - painted rock art.
petroglyph . . . — — Map (db m205837) HM
This highway parallels the old Indian trail, still visible from here, connecting the Imperial and Palo Verde Valleys.
The grateful people of Imperial County honor the memory of our beloved Senator Ben Hulse, who worked untiringly for the people . . . — — Map (db m57702) HM
Originally called Camp Calhoun, the site was first used as a U.S. Military Post in 1849. A fire destroyed the original buildings. By 1855 the barracks had been rebuilt. Called Camp Yuma in 1852 it became Fort Yuma after reconstruction. Transferred . . . — — Map (db m149168) HM
Daring explorer, zealous missionary and unfailing friend of the Yuma Indians. Padre Garcés founded the Yuma Indian Mission and nearby gave his life for their souls.
His faith was unshakeable; his hope tranquil; his charity joyous; his zeal . . . — — Map (db m46787) HM
Alarcon's mission was to provide supplies for Francisco Coronado's expedition in search of the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola. The Spaniards led by Hernando De Alarcon ascended the Colorado River by boat from the Gulf of California past this point, . . . — — Map (db m88572) HM
As Avi-Milikit of Quechen legends; Picacho noted Spanish arrival in 1640, lured Sonora miners after 1852, brought steamboats to its mining and milling port until 1910. Her mines were never worked to extinction, but Picacho became a squatter haven. . . . — — Map (db m51576) HM
Opened by placer miners after 1852, the gold mines expanded into hard rock quarrying by 1872. Picacho employed 700 miners at its peak from 1895 to 1900. Mill accidents, low ore quality, and the loss of cheap river transport with the building of . . . — — Map (db m50584) HM
(Panel 1)
In the beginning
1915 - 1926
The story of the Plank Road began with the era of automobile transportation and a spirit of competition between the cities of San Diego and Los Angeles. San Diego was determined to become . . . — — Map (db m185972) HM
This unique plank road seven miles long was the only means early motorists had for crossing the treacherous Imperial Sand Dunes. The eight by twelve foot sections were moved with a team of horses whenever the shifting sands covered portions of the . . . — — Map (db m50682) HM
In October 1780, Father Francisco Garces and companions began Mission La Purisima Concepcion. The mission/pueblo site was inadequately supported, colinists ignored Indian rights, usurped the best lands and destroyed Indian crops. Completely . . . — — Map (db m46896) HM
To protect the Anza Trail where it forded the Colorado River, the Spanish founded a pueblo and mission nearby on January 7, 1781. Threatened with the loss of their land, the Quechans (Yumas) attacked this strategic settlement on July 17, 1781. The . . . — — Map (db m29057) HM
The Plank Road once provided the only means of crossing the treacherous Imperial Sand Dunes. This historic road spurred settlement of Imperial County and development of San Diego at the start of the automobile age. — — Map (db m50618) HM
Pete Walters of Ogilby discovered the first gold vien at Gold Rock on January 6, 1884. From his little Mary claim began a gold camp which reached its peak development between 1893 and 1899 as Hedges, with 3200 residents. Nearly closed, 1900-10, it . . . — — Map (db m50581) HM
