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Alvarado Hot Springs

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Defunct water source in California

Alvarado Hot Springs
The Pomona Progress Bulletin, Feb. 6, 1926
LocationPuente Hills, Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
Coordinates33°58′55″N 117°53′18″W / 33.98194°N 117.88833°W / 33.98194; -117.88833
Typegeothermal
Temperature44 °C (111 °F)
Depth1,525 metres (5,003 ft)

Alvarado Hot Springs was a 20th-century geothermal well in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A bathhouse was built next to the water and a therapeutic spa was operated on the site for several decades.

History

The source of the water was a 5,000 feet (1,500 m) large-diameter petroleum test well drilled that yielded hot water and natural gas. On November 7, 1924, a six-inch well bore hit hot water at 3,400 feet (1,000 m) and gas at 4,240 feet (1,290 m). The water was pumped up to a tank for recreational-therapeutic use and the gas was used to heat the bathhouse. The well was drilled and owned by rancher William P. Alvarado. Alvarado also piped the natural gas to his house, a mile from the well site, for use in cooking and lighting, and combined the water with water from other sources for use in agricultural irrigation.

The bathhouse was located just off Fifth Avenue, roughly three miles southeast of the town limits of La Puente. As described in 1926, the Alvarado Hot Springs spa was on the far slope of the Alvarado Ranch "in the hills about a mile and one-half west of the Otterbein road that runs south from Valley boulevard...The route to the springs is fairly circuitous but well signed and the road leads at last to a towering wooden oil well derrick mounted on a knoll from which much of the valley and Old Baldy in the distance Is visible." There were four baths for men and three for women, as well as sweat rooms.

1928 edition of USGS La Brea quadrangle map

Alvarado Hot Springs and Seminole Hot Springs were the two major therapeutic hot springs spas within Los Angeles County as of 1937. The bathhouse, situated on about 20 acres of land, was still in business as of 1961, street address 1880 E. 5th Street in La Puente, California. The former site of the well lies within a residential neighborhood in Rowland Heights.

See also

References

  1. ^ Higgins, Chris T.; Therberge, Albert E. Jr.; Ikelman, Joy A. (1980). Geothermal Resources of California (PDF) (Map). NOAA National Geophysical Center. Sacramento: California Department of Mines and Geology.
  2. ^ Berkstresser, C. F. (1968). Data for Springs in the Southern Coast, Transverse, and Peninsular Ranges of California (Report). U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey, Water Resources Division.
  3. ^ "Hot Water on Tap". The Pomona Progress Bulletin. January 22, 1926. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  4. ^ "Oil Search Results in Founding of Bathhouse". Covina Argus. June 12, 1936. p. 47. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  5. "Alvarado Springs Open". The Pomona Progress Bulletin. December 5, 1929. p. 11. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  6. "Southland's Spas Varied [Part 1 of 2]". Annual Winter Resort and Travel Number. The Los Angeles Times. Vol. LVII. December 17, 1937. pp. III-1. & "Scores of Hot Springs Located in Southland [Part 2 of 2]". pp. III-1.
  7. "A Money Maker!". Los Angeles Mirror. May 23, 1958. p. 34. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  8. "Alvarado Hot Springs". The Los Angeles Times. April 23, 1961. p. 275. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  9. Moen, Rick. "California Hot Springs - A Selfish Guide". Retrieved 2024-01-27.
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