Lake Norconian Club

 

Lake Norconian Club

General Overview

The Lake Norconian Club is a historic former hotel and spa resort located in Norco, California. Opened in 1929 within a rural community, it was later renamed The Norconian in 1931 and Clark's Hot Springs in 1940. Having served as a naval base and a prison for over 70 years, the complex remains largely intact and was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

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Creation and Construction (1920–1929)

• Origins: In 1920, land speculator Rex Brainerd Clark purchased 15 square miles of agricultural land north of Corona and renamed the area "Norco" (North of Corona). In 1925, his engineer Cuthbert Gulley struck hot mineral water while drilling a well, inspiring the creation of a health spa resort.
• Infrastructure: Designed by prominent architects of the era (Dwight Gibbs, G. Stanley Wilson, and A. B. Heinsbergen), the luxury complex featured a first-class hotel, a golf course, an airfield, an artificial lake, indoor bath complexes, and the first outdoor Amateur Athletic Union (AAU)-qualifying swimming and diving pools in Southern California.

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The Golden Age and Hollywood Success (1929–1933)

Following its grand opening on February 2, 1929, the resort rapidly became a premier playground for top film and sports icons:

• Celebrities: Buster Keaton and Babe Ruth were regular guests on the golf course. Will Rogers frequently utilized the resort's airfield, and actress Norma Shearer shot movies and rode horses along the property's trails. In 1938, Walt Disney Studios threw a legendary celebration party here to mark the massive success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
• Competitions: The outdoor pools hosted world-class athletes like Buster Crabbe and Duke Kahanamoku. In 1928, 18-year-old heiress Cecily Cuhna broke the world record for the 400-meter freestyle swim here. High-speed speedboat races were also regularly held on the lake.
• Cinema: Multiple films were shot on location. The site became so widely recognized that Fox Studios built replica Norconian sets on their Hollywood soundstages.

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The Decline During the Great Depression

Hit hard by the economic crash and a severe seven-year regional drought, the resort closed its doors in 1933. While it managed to reopen in 1935 thanks to an infusion of family trust funds—continuing to host major parties for MGM and Fox—it continuously struggled with back taxes, debt, liens, and labor disputes. The private resort closed permanently in 1940.

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The Military Era: The Naval Hospital (1941–1957)

On December 8, 1941, the day after the Pearl Harbor attack, the U.S. Navy officially commissioned the resort as the United States Naval Hospital in Corona (later shifting to Norco's jurisdiction). The federal government promised Rex Clark $2,000,000 for the land, which he had to fight for in court for four years before winning his suit.

• Patient Care: The first patients arriving from Pearl Harbor were treated in the former resort rooms. The facility rapidly expanded to house 5,000 patients by 1945, serving as the Navy's designated national treatment center for tuberculosis, malaria, and polio.
• Medical Breakthroughs: The hospital pioneered the use of penicillin for tuberculosis, the first uses of the polio vaccine outside of Pittsburgh, and the introduction of hand-held X-ray machines. It was also the birthplace of wheelchair basketball, played by a veteran team known as "The Rolling Devils."
• Troop Morale: Hollywood stars who once vacationed at the resort returned to entertain the wounded soldiers, including The Three Stooges, the Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello, and Clark Gable.

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Reconversion: Laboratories and Prisons (1957–Present)

• Naval Research: While the hospital closed for good in 1957, the military presence remained through research laboratories, today known as the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Corona Division
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• Correctional Facility: In 1962, 94 acres were transferred to the state of California to open the California Rehabilitation Center (CRC), the nation's first state-funded voluntary addition treatment program. However, corrections priorities eventually overtook rehabilitation; the facility was converted into a medium-high security state prison housing up to 5,000 inmates.

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Historic Preservation and Current State

• Heritage Status: Overturning a 1995 Navy study that claimed the site had no historical significance, an independent, city-funded report successfully got 19 resort-era structures added to the National Register in 2000 as the Norconian Resort Historic District.
• Decay from Neglect: In 2004, a structural study determined the main hotel building did not meet earthquake safety codes, leading to its abandonment. Today, the massive 250,000-square-foot Spanish Colonial Revival masterpiece sits crumbling behind 20-foot-high razor wire fences. Hole-riddled roofs frequently expose its hand-painted ceilings and historic Catalina tile floors to the elements.
• Legal Action: In 2014, the Lake Norconian Club Foundation filed a lawsuit against the State of California to legally force state agencies to abide by preservation laws and maintain the historic structures on their land.