23 December 2024

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.

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