Carbon Canyon Historical Artifact #66: "Sulphur Springs, La Vida Cal.," ca. 1930s

Here is a great unused real photo postcard (RPPC) titled "Sulphur Springs / La Vida Cal. and which shows the location in the canyon behind the long-running La Vida Mineral Springs resort in the Brea portion of Carbon Canyon, east of today's Olinda Village where the hot mineral water emanated.

The card looks to be from the 1930s and is of a series of a half-dozen of La Vida that were recently acquired and which will be shown in future posts here.  Most of these old photos were of the site along Carbon Canyon Road, where the baths, motel, botting plant and other aspects of the establishment were most visible to the public.

To find a view of the source of the hot mineral water, however, is quite rare.  Not the pipe at the upper left from which the water is pouring, as well as the rough wood walk, at the end of which is a tin cup.  The chaparral-covered landscape of the narrow canyon behind the resort is also of note.

If you missed 2024's presentations on the history of La Vida given to the Orange County and Chino Hills historical societies, there are still a couple of upcoming opportunities to hear the talk.  The first is Thursday, 23 January @ 6:30 p.m. for the Covina Valley Historical Society.  You can learn more at the Society's website events page, though it shows an October date that was rescheduled.  There is a charge for dinner, but you can inquire about separately attending the talk.  The second is Thursday, 6 March @ 6:30 p.m. for the Yorba Linda Public Library and, while the presentation is not yet listed, keep an eye on the event calendar for when it is.

Meantime, best wishes for the holidays and look for another of the postcards to be posted here soon.

Serenity Grove Housing Development Construction Begins

The Paradise Ranch residential project, on Canyon Hills Road between the Hillcrest and Oak Tree Downs and Oak Tree Estates developments and north of Carbon Canyon Road (State Route 142), has been rechristened Serenity Grove.  The 85-acre ranch, of which 50 will be preserved as open space and 16 reserved for a family member residing in a long-existing house, will include some 50 residences on the remaining 14 or so acres clustered at the northeast corner of the tract.

Grading began this past week, so drivers on Carbon Canyon Road will likely notice more dump trucks and other vehicles plying the state highway to get to and from the site, with larger vehicles required to come in from the Brea/Orange County side and smaller ones permitted to enter from the Chino Hills/San Bernardino County portion—the distinction because of the S-curves at the summit.

Speaking of traffic, a signal is planned for the intersection of Canyon Hills and SR142, with the developer contributing funds towards it, though there is no date yet determined for the installation.  This will mark on the second signal on the state highway between Olinda Ranch (after the road widens) and Chino Hills Parkway, the other placed at Olinda Village not all that long ago.

Nothing has been discovered so far about how long it is expected for Serenity Grove to be fully developed, but, in the meantime, here is the wording from the City of Chino Hills about traffic impacts from this first stage of construction:

Residents and commuters of Carbon Canyon Road should expect heavier truck traffic as a new development off Carbon Canyon and Canyon Hills Road is set to begin construction this week. Traffic may be heavier than normal. As part of the project’s construction management plan, the City has required that semi-trucks or long trailers must be brought to the project site from the Brea side using the 57-freeway to avoid the s-curves and limited the developer to only allowing smaller trucks that can manage the s-curves on the Chino Hills side.  

The development’s working hours are 7:00 am to 7:00 pm Monday through Friday and 8:00 am to 6:00 pm on Saturdays. Work is expected throughout the holidays, with no work on Christmas and New Year’s Day.

For questions or concerns, please contact the developer Trumark Homes at (949) 521-8508 or (949) 350-7097.