Lake Norconian Club (Norco, California)

USA / California / Norco / Norco, California
 Second World War 1939-1945, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, interesting place, closed / former military, historic landmark, historical building, United States Navy
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Hot springs were discovered on the site in 1925 and the exclusive club, a Mission Revival delight designed by architect Dwight Gibbs, followed soon after in 1929. Design elements included handmade wrought-iron light fixtures, Catalina tile, and stunning ceiling paintings. The resort attracted the biggest Hollywood stars and famous personalities of the day including Mae West, Amelia Earhart, Babe Ruth, Walt Disney, Will Rogers, Harold Lloyd, Norma Shearer, and Clark Gable.

The Depression, tax troubles, liens, and other difficulties dealt the resort a heavy blow and forced the resort to close its doors in 1933. The resort re-opened briefly from 1936 until 1940 until the US Navy purchased the property eight days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The first patients were Pearl Harbor survivors who were transported here in February 1942. The hospital itself saw many firsts: the first use of penicillin to treat tuberculosis, first use of the polio vaccine outside of Pittsburgh, and the first use of the hand-held x-ray machine. It became the US Navy's national treatment center of tuberculosis, malaria, and polio. The hospital also had specialized wards for catastrophic wounds, rheumatic fever, jungle rot, venereal disease, and general medicine.

The wounded from the Pacific continued to arrive and soon the hospital was expanded to include the Art Deco Unit 1 Hospital attached to the hotel, quarters for nurses and corpsmen, and a tuberculosis ward. More buildings soon followed. Many of the buildings that make up today's California Rehabilitation Center are WWII-era Navy hospital buildings.

The hospital closed on November 1st, 1949 and was soon re-opened in February 1950 due to the Korean War. It closed its doors for good in 1957.

Although the former hotel and hospital is on the National Register of Historic Places, the building is currently neglected and water damaged.

www.lakenorconianclub.com/
www.lakenorconianclub.org/
www.norcohistoricalsociety.org/
vividlyvintage.com/2010/07/06/norconian-resort-supreme-...
pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/00000033.pdf
pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Photos/00000033.pdf
Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Norconian_Club
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   33°55'43"N   117°34'9"W

Comments

  • The Lake Norconian Resort was opened in 1929. For more info, go to the website www.lakenorconianclub.org or purchase the book, THE LAKE NORCONIAN RESORT.
This article was last modified 2 years ago