The city of Palm Desert has become a Coachella Valley hub over the past few decades. It’s home to the largest mall in the valley (The Shops at Palm Desert), art galleries, museums, upscale shopping on El Paseo, the McCallum Theatre, several college campuses, and the valley’s nationally regarded zoo, The Living Desert.
Incorporated on Nov. 26, 1973, the city of Palm Desert celebrated its golden anniversary last year with festivities at the Palm Desert Civic Center Park. The city has come a long way from the remote desert cove it once was.
The area is the ancestral homeland of now-extinct Cahuilla tribes (the Las Palmas band and the San Cayetano band). Land developers purchased tribal land (including parts of present-day Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert) from the Montoya family and from Rancho San Cayetano during the 1850s. The location became known as the Old MacDonald Ranch, but was re-named Palm Village in the 1920s when date palms were planted by a few remaining Cahuilla farmers.
The large U.S. Army Desert Training Center set up by General George S. Patton helped jump-start the area. Patton established a motor pool and maintenance camp near what is now El Paseo Drive, and residential development commenced nearby. What would eventually be the city of Palm Desert was begun by Randall J. Henderson (1888-1970), publisher of Desert Magazine, who moved the magazine there from El Centro after World War II, building a modern Pueblo-influenced building (designed by legendary architect Harry J. Williams) near what is now El Paseo and Highway 111. While exploring the Coachella Valley, Randall and his business partner, J. Wilson McKenney noticed a desert cove protected by the Santa Rosa Mountains. They both agreed that the area would be a great new location for Desert Magazine. Plus, his brother, Clifford W. Henderson (1895-1984), had mentioned building a planned community somewhere in the desert and asked him to scout locations.
During the war, Randall and Cliff were both Army aviators serving in North Africa. Cliff contracted severe valley fever and was hospitalized when he returned to the United States. An Army doctor suggested he recover in a dry climate. Cliff was friends with the popular ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, who had a ranch between Indio and Palm Springs. Bergen suggested that he come and stay at his ranch; Cliff accepted and got introduced to the Coachella Valley. In a very short time, he regained his strength. By this time, Randall had established Desert Magazine in its new location and recommended that Cliff build and develop that same area. Cliff took his brother’s advice and launched his vision of the planned community.
No stranger to leadership and realizing visions, Cliff, a 1917 University of Southern California graduate, had helped lead the development of Mines Field, the municipal airport that would become Los Angeles International Airport. In 1928, he became director of aviation, serving as the first manager of the Los Angeles airport system.
The former pilot was a natural organizer. Cliff not only led the team that developed today’s LAX, but he was instrumental in promoting the overall evolution of aviation. As an early organizer and managing director of the National Air Races (1928-1939), he advanced aviation technology and played a major role in introducing the public to air travel. Cliff was also active in Los Angeles real estate development. He and another brother, Phil Henderson, developed the iconic art deco Pan-Pacific Auditorium in L.A., among other significant projects.
In the Army Air Corps during World War II, Cliff rose to the rank of colonel and established himself by being involved in planning the Burma Hump air route. He also served as military governor of Dakar in North Africa.
In the desert, Cliff bought several parcels of land south of the Indio Highway (now Highway 111) and across the road from Palm Village, including the site of what had been a vehicle pool for General Patton’s Desert Training Center. He quietly amassed 1,622 acres, and in March 1945, Cliff Henderson formed the Palm Desert Corporation. Investors included his old friend Edgar Bergen, Leonard Firestone of Firestone Tires, and others.
They immediately began to build infrastructure, digging wells and laying out streets. They wanted everything about the project to be first class, and while Cliff had the vision, raised the money and made it all work, he had lots of help. Randall had found the site and moved Desert Magazine there to become the first commercial enterprise in Palm Desert, but he refrained from using his magazine for promotion, and did not spend much time actively participating in the new city’s progress. Randall became widely known as “Mr. Desert” and later penned the book On Desert Trails.
Cliff and Randall’s brother-in-law, Tommy Tomson, a noted landscape designer, helped establish Palm Desert by creating the overall site plan and street layout, as well as the landscape design for many of the businesses and residences. Also helping were two other brothers, Phil and Carl Henderson. Phil unfortunately died from heart problems in the late 1940s before seeing the project to fruition. Cliff had considered Phil not only a brother and business partner, but his best friend. Carl was the “born salesman” and did the legwork of selling the lots.
Over the next few decades, the area came into its own. One bellwether date was July 14, 1947, when the official United States Post Office opened there. In 1948, the Palm Desert Corporation began to develop real estate in the area. One of their early projects was the Shadow Mountain Club, which opened in 1948 and featured a huge figure-eight-shaped swimming pool designed by Tomson.
In 1951, the town officially changed its name to Palm Desert and absorbed nearby Palm Village. On Nov. 26, 1973, the community was incorporated, becoming the 17th city in Riverside County. According to newspaper coverage of the incorporation, the new city encompassed 8.5 square miles (now 26.96 miles) and had a population of 14,166 (now 53,000).
The brothers made civic donations to the city they established. Randall donated land for the first library, and Cliff donated land for the first church, school and fire station, helping to make a solid community out of once-barren desert.
The city regularly welcomes residents from all over the valley to its numerous venues, including College of the Desert (opened in 1958), campuses of California State University, San Bernardino (1986) and the University of California, Riverside (2005), the Living Desert Zoo (1970), The Shops at Palm Desert (previously Westfield Palm Desert, 1982), the McCallum Theatre (1988) and El Paseo (1990s).
In recognition of his contributions to Palm Desert, a bust of Cliff Henderson was dedicated in 1978. Sculpted by Henry McCann, the bust was placed in the center parkway of El Paseo.
Sources for this article include “History of Palm Desert and the Greater Palm Springs Area” at Palmdesert.com; “History: The Henderson Clan, Founders of Palm Desert” by Sid Burks, The Desert Sun, Sept. 29, 2017; Desert Editor: The Story of Randall Henderson and Palm Desert by J. Wilson McKenney (Wilmac Press, 1972); and On Desert Trails by Randall Henderson (Westernlore Press, 1961).