Coso Hot Springs entry sign
(Photo courtesy of Irene Bramlette Paynter)

"Old" Coso silver ore loading bin
From The Westerners Los Angeles Corral Brand Book 12

Map of the Coso Silver Mines
From The Westerners Los Angeles Corral Brand Book 12

Ruins of "Old" Coso
From The Westerners Los Angeles Corral Brand Book 12

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Coso Hot Springs - 1928
The "screen house" was where drinking water was obtained.
L/R: Frank Millu, Wesley Stone

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Thelan's Pack and Service Station
The little girl is Louis Reid and her burro, "Coso"
Coso Hot Junction - 1927

Coso Hot Springs

Coso Hot Springs

Coso Shell Service Station

Coso Shell Service Station

"Devil's Kitchen" Coso Hot Springs

Indian Petroglyphs - Coso Hot Springs

Indian Petroglyphs - Coso Hot Springs

Indian Petroglyphs - Coso Hot Springs

Coso Hot Springs

Coso Hot Springs

Coso Hot Springs

Coso Junction Richfield Service Station

Cowan Station - Coso Junction, CA

Gill's Oasis - Coso Junction, CA

Cowan Station - Coso Junction, CA

Pack Train on the desert en route to Coso Hot Springs.
The Sierra Nevada Mountains are in the background.

Cowan's Pack Train fording the south fork of the Kern River.

Cowan's Pack Train fording the south fork of the Kern River.

Cowan's Pack Train heading up to Haiwee Pass and the south fork of the Kern River

On the way to the Kern River

On the way to the Kern River

Coso Hot Springs

Coso Hot Springs

Coso Hot Springs

Gill's Oasis at Coso Junction

Coso Junction Water Company
(Photo courtesy Irv Dierdorff)

Housekeeping cabins at Coso Hot Springs resort - 1938.
The resort first only attracted visitors from nearby eastern Sierra Nevada communities, but the rising popularity of auto travel quickly changed everything. People started coming to the resort from Los Angeles, and San Francisco. In 1943 the U.S. Navy began purchasing land for a new mega-base - now known as the Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake. Coso Hot Springs is now wholly within NAWS boundaries. Before the navy base, the waters, mud, and steam of the Coso area was claimed to cure a range of ills from venereal disease to constipation. Before the resort, Coso Hot Springs was held as sacred land to the Paiute and Shoshone Native American tribes who settled in the area. The earlies written account of the hot springs came from M. H. Farley, a miner at nearby Silver Peak, who mentioned "boinling hot springs to the south" in 1860.
From 1987 through 1989, geothermal-powered electric-generating plants were constructed at the site. Electricity generation continues to this day.

(Text and Photo courtesy Inyo County Sesquicentennial)

Coso Hot Springs - Circa 1920