The New La Vida Onsen Resort in Carbon Canyon

In July 2025, 36 acres in Carbon Canyon comprising the former La Vida Mineral Springs resort, which operated for most of the 20th century, offering hot mineral baths, lodging, a café and bottle mineral water purporting to have all manner of positive effects on health, was purchased.  In early September, "Kevin Y" left a comment on this blog starting that "we purchased this property about 2 months ago."

In September, a presentation was given to the Brea Historical Museum on some of the history of La Vida and the owner and an architect attended.  A brief discussion afterward included mention of the future plans envisioned for the property.  In Japan, onsen refers to mineral springs, the bathing facilities at these locals and the lodgings associated with them.

As a newly launched website states, "a visionary local developer acquired the land, pledging to revive it as the "New La Vida Onsen Resort"—honoring its legacy with Japanese-inspired cabins and exclusive mineral baths."  Moreover, the site remarks, "as of December 2025, plans whisper of a rebirth, where ancient springs meet modern serenity, ensuring La Vida flows on for generations."

The site also remarks on the quality of the water being "a rare 'hot soda' or alkaline mineral type with concentrated therapeutic minerals" and adds that its locale "in a prime location" is such that its "urban access + canyon privacy is unmatched."  This includes the potential of the water to be utilized again because it is "therapeutically balanced, historically drinkable/bottled, and subtly effervescent without overwhelming sulfur."

Check out the website, which uses photos and content from this blog as well as public presentations as noted above in Brea, as well as the Orange County Historical Society, here, and keep an eye out for what the future may hold for the site.

La Vida and Carbon Canyon Mineral Springs Resorts Talk Tomorrow

Here's a last minute reminder that tomorrow night at 6 p.m. at the Yorba Linda Public Library, 4852 Lakeview Avenue, just north of Yorba Linda Boulevard, a presentation will be given on some history of the La Vida and Carbon Canyon mineral springs resorts.

La Vida was by far the better known of the two and operated on the Brea portion of Carbon Canyon near today's Olinda Village community for some seven decades between the 1910s and 1980s, including many years in the production of mineral water of many flavors promising myriad health benefits, while the much lesser-known Carbon Canyon resort ran during the 1930s and 1940s just over the Orange/San Bernardino counties line in the little hamlet of Sleepy Hollow.

In addition to the talk, dozens of artifacts, including postcards, bottles, bottle openers, an ashtray, a motel room key, a bottle crate and many photographs, will be brought for display, as well.  So, if you've missed prior presentations for the Chino Hills and Orange County historical societies, considering joining us tomorrow might (rain showers and all).

Carbon Canyon Historical Artifact #67: A Real Photo Postcard, "La Vida Springs. Scene," ca. 1930s

As we begin 2025, may the roads you travel be as serene and navigable (until hit with storms, that is!) as depicted in this real photo postcard from perhaps the 1930s and which is simply titled "La Vida Springs. Scene."  The postally unused card is taken from Carbon Canyon Road in Brea on the Orange County side of the Canyon looking east toward Chino and San Bernardino County.

Behind trees at the left or north side of the road is a structure that was part of the La Vida Mineral Springs resort, which opened around 1915 and, in various configurations over the next several decades, included a bottling plant (to the left foreground and out of view), motel, café, baths, playground and more.  Among its regular customers were Jews who'd been accustomed to going to hot mineral baths in Europe along with locals looking for a good soothing soaking.

As suburbanization spread rapidly around it, La Vida slowly lost business and fewer of its amenities survived.  The motel burned in the late 1980s and all that was left by the turn of this century was the restaurant before that finally closed in the early 2000s.  Over subsequent years, overgrowth all but concealed any visual aspects, though the 2008 wildfire exposed much of it when the area was scorched.

Today, there are a few remnants, most notably part of a storage tank at the mouth of a small canyon where the previous post, showing an image from the same set as this one, briefly discussed the origins of the hot water—this still exists, though it is on private property.  Sections of sidewalk, concrete bases for bridges and other bits are also still there, as are some of the eucalyptus trees that existed a century or so ago.

If you missed a pair of talks on La Vida given in 2024 to the Orange County Historical Society and Chino Hills Historical Society, there are a couple of upcoming presentations:  on Thursday evening, 23 January for the Covina Valley Historical Society and on Thursday evening, 6 March for the Yorba Linda Public Library.  The website for the Covina group has a postponed October talk on its events page, but the upcoming talk should be there soon.  Similarly, the Yorba Linda library site does not have the talk on its calendar yet, but look for it anytime now.

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.

Chino Hills Historical Society Talk Monday Night on Mineral Springs Resorts in Carbon Canyon

This is a reminder that Monday the 14th at 7 p.m., the Chino Hills Historical Society hosts a talk at the Chino Hills Community Center, 14250 Peyton Drive, called "In Hot Water: The La Vida and Carbon Canyon Mineral Springs Resorts."

While La Vida Mineral Springs on the Brea side of Carbon Canyon is somewhat known, the Carbon Canyon Mineral Springs in Sleepy Hollow in the Chino Hills portion is all but forgotten. Paul R. Spitzzeri will share some of the history of these two health resorts, so join us for this discussion of our local history.

La Vida Mineral Springs Property For Sale

The sign has been up for about a couple of months now, but only more recently has information been made available about the offering of the 36-acre La Vida Mineral Springs property on the Brea side of Carbon Canyon.

The property, which is two parcels, has long been owned by Tadayao Hata, a Tokyo businessman who owned a large therapeutic spa in Japan, where volcanic activity provides plenty of hot mineral springs and which has a long cultural tradition of using these for medicinal purposes. 

In the late 1990s, Hata submitted plans for a remaking of the La Vida property, the history of which dates back to the early days of oil prospecting at the nearby Olinda field.  It was said that oil drilling on the site led to the discovery of the springs, though it may be that the indigenous people knew of the existence of the mineral waters long before that.  It was reported that Hata was planning to spend up to $5 million rebuilding the hotel and remaking the spa, which would also include facials, massages and other services.

A circa late 1920s or early 1930s real photo postcard of the La Vida Mineral Springs resort.  Click on any image to see them enlarged in a separate window.  All are from the author's collection.  

In any case, by 1915, a small resort was in operation at La Vida and the enterprise grew in succeeding years, including the erection of cabins, the opening of a cafe, and the building of a hotel, the expansion of the soaking tubs that were the core of the buisness and, finally, the bottling of La Vida Mineral Water with several flavors.

Under the long tenure of one family, the resort stayed open for decades and was sold in 1974 to Leo Hayashi, who sold the site to Hata and was his manager for a period.  As times changed, the canyon being less remote, and then a fire broke out in 1988 that destroyed the hotel, all that was left was what was known as the La Vida Roadhouse, where live music was performed on weekends.  That, too, went away, by the early 2000s.

Hata's first plan for the property did not get beyond the planning stages and the property became weed-infested and overgrown.  The Freeway Complex fire of November 2008 burned nearly all the plant material off and, among other things, exposed the old pink-colored La Vida Mineral Springs tank perched on the side of the hill.

A 1940s color postcard of two gents playing badminton at the resort.

A few years back, my next-door neighbors told me that a Japanese-language newspaper had a report of new plans for a spa at the La Vida site and, not long after that, I spotted some well-dressed men standing next to some nice cars at the location.

Now comes the listing.  Though there is not a sale price shown, there is a well-designed web site by the realty firm, The Kondo Group, with drone video of the property and the tagline "Opportunity Awaits."  After pressing "Read More" and getting a summary of the history of La Vida, a "Read More Here" link takes you to the first post on La Vida from this blog, though a search can be made on the home page for many more posts on the resort and its fascinating history.

A tab marked "Waters" gives a brief description of the therapeutic properties of hot mineral water and a short reference to the bottling of La Vida Mineral Water, accompanied by some photos, including a couple from this blog.

Judging by the cars, this looks to be an early 1960s postcard of La Vida.

The "Opportunities" tab has a few site photos, but, more interestingly, includes images of site and floor plans and drawings of a new resort there.  They include a pair of two-story hotel buildings totaling over 12,000 square feet, the spa building of just under 10,500 square feet, a restaurant of a little below 1,900 square feet, a reception room, an office, and a little more than 150 parking spaces.  All of this looks to be clustered at the west end of the parcel.

The five hotel room plans show spacious, Japanese-style spaces ranging from 360 to 650 square feet and occupancy from two to four persons.  All contain outdoor decks of various sizes and, in keeping with Japanese tradition, they also have a tatami space, which might be seen as an analog to a living room.  Traditionally, these were used in Japanese homes to entertain visitors, serve ceremonial tea, contains a religious altar and, in more modern times, be used for meditation and yoga.  Images show spartan but fine furnishings appropriate to the style.

A "New Building Plan & Image" at the bottom shows a view of what the facility would look like from across Carbon Canyon Road and the effect is a very traditional Japanese arrangement of the clustered buildings a roofed entrance and walls around the compound with landscaping that, of course, would also feature Japanese-inspired plantings and hardscape.

Another Sixties postcard, this one showing one of the pools built on a terraced hillside above the motel.

The tagline in this section is "Dare to Dream" and a link goes to a website showing the City of Brea's zoning code, though there is a Carbon Canyon Specific Plan ordinance, as well.  Regardless of whether the spa that is shown on the website is allowed under these plans and codes, there is the practical considerations of whether such a facility would even have a chance of being successful were it built.

It will certainly be interesting to see what transpires with the La Vida property and, if it is purchased what could be done with it that would meet the criteria of the specific plan and codes and be commercially viable.

To see more of the listing, here is a link to the La Vida web site..

Sleepy Hollow and the Carbon Canyon Mineral Springs Resort Redux

Back in early April, a post on the 1940 federal census in Sleepy Hollow referred to the existence of a mineral springs resort in the community and it was noted that some maps identified the "Carbon Canyon Mineral Springs" as in the neighborhood.

Then, community resident Ray Byworth stepped forward and offered a ca. 1960 newsletter image that showed the "Hiltscher Mineral Springs" resort, which existed on his property along Carbon Canyon Road, just a short distance east from the San Bernardino/Orange counties line.  Information on Fred Hiltscher, whose family were prominent in Fullerton (Hiltscher Park, for example, being a well-known amenity there, but less savory allusions to Ku Kux Klan sympathies are also linked to some family members.)  Two weeks after the census post, one on the Hiltscher Mineral Springs resort was uploaded thanks to Mr. Byworth's comment.

Now, within the last few weeks, a new aspect to the story has emerged, thanks to some photographs obtained from David Arnold, owner of a 1938 photo album that features remarkable images of the devastating floods that ravaged much of Orange County (and elsewhere in southern California) during that winter.  There were, however, several images taken in Sleepy Hollow and one specifically of the front of what was called the "Carbon Canyon Mineral Springs" and which was previously the Hiltscher Mineral Springs.  That image is below:



The Carbon Canyon Mineral Springs resort, also known as the Hiltscher Mineral Springs, on the south side of Carbon Canyon Road at Sleepy Hollow just east of the San Bernardino/Orange counties line.  This 1938 view was provided courtesy of David Arnold, owner of a photo album that includes several other views that may be of the other side of this facade.  Click on the image (and those below) to see a larger view in a separate window.

Because the 1940 census had information on those employed at the springs, including its manager, Victor Baden, who had lived elsewhere in 1935 (a question asked on this enumeration), but who may have been the manager in 1938 when the photos in the album were taken.

In any case, this set of photographs shows the same building from image provided by Mr. Byworth in the April post, but with the different name for the institution.  In addition, there are other several other photos that show a two-story frame structure but which is not identified as to location.

Here, then is the selection of images:

Notably, the above view was labeled on the photo album as a "Front View," though it appears to be from the rear of the structure, assuming that the slope at the bottom is the bank of Carbon [Canyon] Creek and the other side faced Carbon Canyon Road.

The view above, however, while definitely of the same side, does look different because of the exposure, with lighter tones in the photo than the one further up.

This shot seems as if it was taken around one side and certainly does take in the same side (at left) as that in the image before it, as well as another side of the structure.  Obviously, there are a number of oak trees throughout the property and, in the view above this one, what looks like a sycamore.

 

 

This image is likely of another side and really shows how wooded this property was, with only portions of the structure visible through the dense growth, which obviously has been one of the great appeals of Sleepy Hollow and Carbon Canyon generally.

 

 

 

 

The labeling of the album page next to this photo simply identified this as the "Patio" and there are some chairs, large square concrete pavers, what might be an outdoor barbeque stove built of river rock with a metal surface projecting out to the right and portions of the structure at the right.

 

 

Finally, this view is inscribed as the "Recreation Lot," though it is not entirely clear what forms of recreational activity might have gone on here--perhaps horseshoes--though there is a bench behind the oak tree at the right and there are structures off to the left.

Thanks to Mr. Byworth, it is known that this structure is a short distance east of the Carbon Canyon Mineral Springs on the same side of Carbon Canyon Road, but at the east side of the intersection of the highway with Rosemary Lane.

These are very rare photographs showing Sleepy Hollow and its mineral springs resort in the late 1930s and add more to the fascinating history of the community and of Carbon Canyon generally.





La Vida Mineral Springs History: James Williams, Manager in the 1910s

As new information comes in, the early history of the La Vida Mineral Springs resort in the Brea portion of Carbon Canyon is becoming gradually clearer. 

When this blog started a few years back, the information then located was that the complex was started by William Newton Miller and a son-in-law in 1924, as found on an Orange County history timeline.  Since then, however, some poking and digging has revealed that there is an earlier date for the resort, as well as some notable later history.

Part of this was brought forward by a commenter to an early La Vida post from this blog.  Nick Williams passed along family information that his grandfather, James Williams, operated the La Vida resort about 1915.  This was a date a decade sooner than what had been stated, but one that could be corroborated by a recently-located advertisement in the student magazine of the George Junior Republic, now Boys Republic in Chino Hills.  In the February 1915 issue, the institution's print shop placed an ad listing, among its several customers, the "La Vida Springs."  So, here was the earliest established date for the existence of the resort, almost a full decade prior to the 1924 one from the timeline.  Incidentally, a search of the 1910 census, which specifically identified an "Olinda precinct" within the Fullerton township, did not located any reference to a hot springs.

Recently, Mr. Williams conveyed further information that ties his family to La Vida at that 1915 time period.  His grandfather, James Williams, a native of Sturges, Missouri, northeast of Kansas City, lived in Nettleton, Arkansas, not far from Memphis, where he married his wife, Bessie Mae Johnson, and the couple had their first child there.  James was working as a maker of staves for wooden barrels, but, in 1902, the family migrated west to Los Angeles County, where James' father, George, had come and bought some land in Long Beach (see the photo below of George, James and other Williams siblings.) 

This photo shows James Williams (top row, second from right), who was the manager of La Vida Mineral Springs from about 1915 until his death in 1919, with his father next to him, and some of his siblings at his father's Long Beach property, 1915. Click on the photo to see in enlarged in a separate window.  Courtesy of Nick Williams, grandson of James Williams

James Williams settled with his family in Clearwater, now the city of Paramount, and took on work as a clerk in a grocery store.  In the 1910 census, he was listed as a "grocery merchant" and he and his wife had five children.  A local directory four years later listed James as general manager of the Clearwater Commercial Company and the postmaster at the community's post office.  Mr. Williams noted that his grandfather was hit on the head from something that fell from the store rafters and was subject to severe seizures.

This might explain why he went out to Carbon Canyon to run the newly-opened "La Vida Springs" resort, as it might have been less of a stressful environment for him.  Importantly, Edward F. Gaines, who had been a farmer at Clearwater and certainly would have been a customer of Williams' store, bought a ranch in Carbon Canyon, located in and around what is now the Olinda Village subdivision and probably including the La Vida property.  While Gaines' occupation was running cattle, it seems very likely that he opened the first version, called "La Vida Springs," of the resort and enticed Williams to be the manager.

Across Carbon Canyon Road, which was just about to be graded all the way through from Olinda to Chino, from the resort was a small white frame house, placed in a rectangular pocket on the hillside perched fifteen feet above the thoroughfare.  Mr. Williams had long heard about the house, but only recently was able to find photographs, courtesy of Chris Jepsen of the Orange County Archives.  To see these images and a couple of later views of La Vida after the Williams family left, please see here.  One is a fairly close view of the front of the house taken from a little to the west from the resort parking area.  The other is a broader view looking west with the resort on the right and a portion of the house visible to the left.  The other views showing the picnic area and some cabins are probably from the late 1920s or early 1930s.

These images matched one Mr. Williams already had that showed one of his aunts at the rear of the house, only a portion of which could be seen in the photo (see below.)  As his father Nicholas and aunt Frieda told him years ago, the house "was on the east side of the canyon across from the bath house.  The only road up Carbon Canyon was to take a wagon up the creek bed."

This photo shows Frieda Williams, daughter of La Vida Mineral Springs manager James Williams, near the back of white wood-frame residence the family lived in across Carbon Canyon Road from the resort, ca. 1915.  Click on the photo to see it in a separate window in an enlarged view.  Courtesy of Nick Williams.

Another interesting recollection came from a cousin, Irene Williams McNabb, who came out from Missouri to visit the family in 1915 and remembered that: "When we were there in 1915, your grandparents lived a little health resort up in the canyon.  James Monroe [Williams] was managing this health resort.  It was a very primitive hot bath.  You walked down into these cubicles . . . cement places . . . and they let the water cool awhile before you went in, it was that hot.  Your Aunt Frieda and I were practically the same age, and the only girls, and we just roamed those hills there."  Naturally, the five Williams children attended Olinda's "little green schoolhouse," located on what is now Carbon Canyon Regional Park.

Unfortunately, the tenure of the Williams family at La Vida and Carbon Canyon was only about four years or so, as James Williams suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage and tumor and died at age 49 in 1919.  By the 1920 census, his widow and children had relocated to Huntington Beach, and, by that time, Allen Abbott, most recently farming at Buena Park, was listed as the manager of "La Vida Springs."  Further solidifying that idea that it was Edward Gaines who first opened the resort at La Vida, research revealed that Abbott's mother was Gaines' sister.

In late 1924, a "La Vida Mineral Springs Company" received its incorporation designation from the State of California and this was almost certainly William Newton Miller's enterprise.  Whether he leased the land from Gaines or acquired the property himself would be revealed through research into county land records.

In any case, the history of the La Vida Mineral Springs resort can definitively traced back almost a decade earlier than was thought a few years ago.  Hopefully, continued research and contributions like those by Mr. Williams will help unearth more of that early history of Carbon Canyon's most significant landmark.

Sleepy Hollow's Hiltscher Mineral Springs Resort

Thanks to a comment and an image provided by Sleepy Hollow resident Ray Byworth after he read the post two weeks back on the 1940 federal census in the community, there is new information about a second mineral springs resort in Carbon Canyon.  The far better known La Vida Mineral Springs opened sometime in the early 1910s or so and operated for many decades, but there was another resort just over the San Bernardino County line and Mr. Byworth provided the image below, which he received from Doug Dale, the local realtor who sold him his house and who annotated the image at the top with "PICTURE OF YOUR PROPERTY."  The view comes from a ca. 1960s publication that looks like a community newsletter and shows the Hiltscher Springs property.

This photocopy of a ca. 1960 newsletter from the Carbon Canyon community of Sleepy Hollow shows a photo of the Hiltscher Mineral Springs resort, which operated in the 1930s and perhaps beyond near the southwest corner of Carbon Canyon Road and Rosemary Lane.  The image, which can be viewed in a larger format by clicking on it, was provided by community resident Ray Byworth.

As noted in an earlier post concerning a 1920s map that showed the Olinda oil field and surrounding areas, there was a J.M. Hiltscher who owned a parcel in the general area that became Sleepy Hollow.  It was speculated in that post that this was Joseph Hiltscher, who was from a Fullerton ranching and farming family.  In the 1930 census, as also covered in this blog, there was a Fred Hiltscher shown as residing in Sleepy Hollow. 

A little further research reveals that Joseph and Fred (Frederick) were brothers.  Their parents were August Hiltscher and Frederike Bockisch.  August, born in June 1843, and Frederike, born in September 1850, were from German-speaking families who had Prussian and Austrian birthplaces.  The couple married in 1868 and raised five sons: Frederick, August, Jr., Joseph, Maximilian, and John.  August was a manufacturer of fine linen tablecloths in Austria and, because he had markets in the United States, decided to come to this country.  In April 1886, the Hiltscher family sailed from Hamburg, Germany and landed in New York City within eleven days.

Almost immediately, the family came west and found property west of Fullerton along Orangethorpe Avenue at Nicolas Avenue, what is today Euclid Street.  On twenty acres, the family tried wine grapes (after all, nearby Anaheim was founded by German immigrants looking to establish a wine-making colony), but then moved to walnuts and apricots after a disease wiped out the majority of the area's vineyards.  Later, the ranch was converted to raising oranges, which became the signature crop of its namesake county.

After only five years in the area, however, August Hiltscher died at age 48 and his widow assumed management of the ranch, successfully operating it with the help of some of her sons until her death in August 1919.

Shortly after his father's death, Frederick moved to Butte County in northern California, where he worked as a cooper (who made casks, barrels, tubs, buckets, butter churns and other vessels) in the town of Bangor, southeast of Oroville.  After a couple of years there, he returned to Fullerton for another brief tenure and worked as a farmer.  By 1900, however, he and his younger brother, Maximilian, five years Frederick's junior, were living in Chino where the two were farming.  It is not entirely clear where in Chino they were and it is possible they were in Carbon Canyon.  One of their neighbors, a French Basque named John Bidart (there was a La Puente family by that name) was a shepherd, and another was Andrew Friend, a farmer, and a family named Friend has been raising cattle in the Canyon for many decades.

By 1904, though, Frederick and Maximilian had left California for Arizona, where in that year the former and three partners incorporated the White Dog and Fullerton Mining Company in Prescott, a copper mining town northwest of Phoenix (incidentally, fifteen or so miles north of Prescott is Chino Valley!)  Fred served as the company's vice-president, while Max was a director.

However, after a few years at Prescott, the two brothers lit out for the copper mining town of Faulkner, New Mexico, north of Las Cruces and near what is now called Truth or Consequences, after a popular 1950s game show of all things.  In 1910, Fred worked as a mine assayer, someone who tests ores and minerals and figures out their type and what they are worth, while his brother was a machinist in a mine.  The brothers, who never married, were in the same community a decade later and, while, Maximilian continued to work as a machinist, Fred was listed as a civil engineer, though undoubtedly connected to mining.

Sometime during the 1920s, though, Fred came back to California and settled in Sleepy Hollow, while Maximilian remained in Faulkner associated with mining and was listed as owning his own copper mine in his World War I registration form.

The image provided by Mr. Byworth clearly shows the structure, located on the south side of Carbon Canyon Road between Rosemary Lane and the San Bernardino/Orange counties line to be the "Hiltscher Springs."  The question is: which member of that family.  The Joseph guessed at earlier as the "J.M. Hiltscher" on the 1924 oil map, was actually Joseph P. Hiltscher, not that map-makers don't make mistakes.  On the other hand, the middle initial might stand for "Maximilian," except that the 1900 census shows him as "Max H. Hiltscher."  It certainly wouldn't seem that "J.M." would have been Frederick.

Another minor issue is that 1937 and 1938 articles in the Los Angeles Times about regional mineral springs stated that Hiltscher, along with Silverado (in the Santa Ana Mountains east of Orange) and La Vida, was in Orange County, though the 1940 census clearly enumerates the spa as in San Bernardino County, which the photo above also indicates.

In any case, this is a great find.  Mr. Byworth, as indicated in his comment to the 1940 census post, also unearthed the remains of six concrete and tile hot tubs on his property that were from the Hiltscher Springs resort.  If someone out there has any information on which Hiltschers were owners of the springs, how long it operated, and any other material, it would be great to hear from you.