The Historical Society of Desert Hot Springs meets every 1st Thursday at the Sidewinder Restaurant 66121 Pierson Blvd at 7:00am.  All are invited to come, have a great breakfast and discuss the history of Desert Hot Springs.

Share Your Personal DHS History. The Historical Society invites local residents to share their memories of life in Desert Hot Springs, and to provide any photos, artifacts, or clippings related to early times in our City. Recently, we have heard from brother and sister, Renee Johnson and Ralph Johnson, who grew up in DHS, as well as Mrs. Jean Carter, who was among the women who began “Hands of the Desert.” We will be happy to take notes on your information, or better yet, do a videotape for inclusion in our archives and website. Call Alta Hester, Society Secretary, at 251-4549.

Historical Photos at the Sidewinder Restaurant. The walls of the Sidewinder Restaurant on Pierson Boulevard are covered with wonderful historical photos of the history of Desert Hot Springs. In addition to the great food, visitors from all over the Valley are drawn to view these photos (many of which were taken by our late member of the Society, Jerry Skuse).

Know Cabot Yerxa or L. W. Coffee? Meet Him? Talk to him? The DHS Historical Society is seeking individuals who can share memories of contacts with Cabot Yerxa or L. W. Coffee. We hope to record this information and possibly feature it as one of our future “Soup Supper” lectures. As you know, there is much activity at Cabot’s Pueblo Museum, as volunteers work to improve the collection and the grounds, and prepare for the opening of a new gift shop. Volunteers at the Museum are re-discovering drawings and writings of Cabot’s, and are looking forward to adding first-hand accounts of contacts with him to our body of knowledge.

On February 3, 2009 the Desert Hot Springs Historical Society was presented a historical scrapbook from "Hands of the Desert" charter members, Jean Carter and Inez Learnard.  The event took place at Mountain View Convalescent Home where Mrs. Learnard, 103, resides.  Hands of the Desert was formed in 1975 by a group of dedicated women who operated a thrift store on Pierson Boulevard and who donated hundreds of thousands of dollars of profits to valley-wide charities and individuals in need.  The non-profit corporation dissolved in 2007 and distributed $100,000 to 16 local charities.

Pictured are: 1) Jean Carter and Inez Learnard; 2) Jean Carter, Alta Hester secretary of the Hist. Soc., and Inez Learnard, and 3) Jeff Bowman, president of the Hist. Soc, Jean Carter, and Inez Learnard  (click picture to enlarge)

The scrapbook is a treasure trove of newspaper clippings documenting the Hands of the Desert thrift store and it's history in our town. 

This website is an ongoing work intended to document in word and pictures the history of Desert Hot Springs.  If you have any old pictures or stories to share, please email them to us at:

(note: you'll have to manually enter the email address)

or you can mail them to:

Desert Hot Springs Historical Society

P.O. Box 422
Desert Hot Springs, CA. 92240