Carbon Canyon Historical Artifact #60: "Road to La Vida Mineral Springs," ca. 1930

Almost two months ago, when these gatherings could still be done, a talk was given to the Chino Hills Historical Society on the history of Carbon Canyon Road.  The presentation included the creation of the road in the mid-1910s; its paving on the San Bernardino County side in the late 1920s; followed a few years later by that work done on the Orange County portion; its designation as a state highway in the early Thirties, though not signed as State Route 142 until the mid-Sixties; and more.

Newspaper articles, maps, and photographs were used to illustrate the PowerPoint presentation, including a relatively new find, a real photo postcard of a section of Carbon Canyon Road, titled "Road to La Vida Mineral Springs" dating to before the early 1930s, when the road was paved on the Orange County side.

It looks like a section of the road as it approached the resort, which began operating in the 1910s and, by 1930, was run by an Anaheim resident and former area oil worker and producer, William Newton Miller.  Under Miller's ownership, La Vida expanded to include more cottages, a larger bath house, and a cafe, among other amenities.  His family continued to own and run the facility until the mid-1970s.

The photo shows a bucolic unpaved road gently curving among the narrow canyon setting, lined with trees on one side, and the steep chaparral-covered hillside on the other.  It certainly was a world away from the modern highway of our era.

The card was unused, but there is an ink inscription on the reverse that reads, "Will & I used to drive to this place / many times, some time go / on up through Carbon Canyon enroute / to Pomona California."  This was true for many people heading from the coastal areas to the Inland Empire, which was the paramount reason for establishing Carbon Canyon Road in the first place.

It's a great little photo of our canyon probably some 90 years ago.

So, it's ten minutes before the end of March and it didn't seem right to go the whole month without at least one post on this blog (something that hasn't yet been done in the nearly dozen years since the Chronicle was launched.)  So, even with the surreal circumstances of our COVID-19 era, this little offering is made to remind us that there is something waiting for us at the end of this road, as well.

Please stay safe and stay well.