Cathedral City possesses a tolerant and libertarian past. Bucking conservative tendencies elsewhere, it was the first Coachella Valley city to welcome gambling establishments, and later, it became a haven for the valley’s earliest gay bars.
There is no true “cathedral” in Cathedral City; the name is based on a rock formation in a nearby canyon. The name “Cathedral” was first applied by a government surveyor back in 1855: U.S. Army Col. Henry Washington, a nephew of President George Washington, who in 1852 was contracted by the U.S. surveyor general to survey Southern California. Col. Washington established Southern California’s “initial point” (the “San Bernardino Baseline and Meridian”) from which all subsequent surveys in the southern part of the state would be based.
Washington was subsequently contracted to survey the Coachella Valley, and in 1855, he came across Cathedral Canyon. He perceived rock formations that resembled a European cathedral, and the name Cathedral Canyon stuck. It was later applied to the U.S. Geological Survey Indio Special Map of 1904.
Today, downtown Cathedral City straddles Highway 111 below the canyon. Originally an ancient Cahuilla Indian trail, this portion of what is now Highway 111 later became the overland stage route called the Bradshaw Trail (1862-1877). William Bradshaw transported miners, supplies, mail and other passengers to Arizona.
Settlers did not permanently live there until the 1920s. In 1925, four Los Angeles men—Glen Plumley, George Allen, Jack Grove and M.V. Van Fleet—purchased the eastern half of section 33, township 4 south, range 5 east, from the Southern Pacific Land Company. The four then subdivided the half-section into small lots, drilled a successful well and added a storage tank.
That subdivision was called “Cathedral City,” after the canyon south of the proposed town. Four main streets were named after the subdividers, and the lots were initially offered for sale on Jan. 1, 1927—with an invitation to prospective bidders including a free barbecue and free bus transportation from Palm Springs.
George Allen later said he felt adding the word “City” to the name “Cathedral” made it sound rather optimistic. Allen also built the first cabin in Cathedral City, located at what is now the southeast corner of Highway 111 and Cathedral Canyon Drive. His real estate office became the town’s first business. The building became the Totem Pole Café in the 1940s, and the site is now home to a Taco Bell.
In the decades that followed, more subdivisions followed—and gradually, a “city” took shape.
Gambling Defined Cathedral City
In the 1930s, Cathedral City became a reputed gangster hideaway with several gambling joints, numerous bars and a laid-back mentality.
Back then, gambling was taboo across most of the U.S. In 1931, Nevada legalized gambling, but it was still illegal in most of the country—although some communities looked the other way.
Al and Lou Wertheimer, members of the infamous Purple Gang, moved west in 1931 and opened up the Clover Club in Los Angeles. A third brother, Mert, was running a casino in Reno. They tried to broaden their activities to Palm Springs, but they ran into a strict roadblock: Town leaders, led by the indomitable Nellie Coffman (owner of the popular Desert Inn), squelched any and all attempts to open gambling clubs. Instead, the brothers bought 20 acres in nearby Cathedral City to build their casino. On that barren land, they opened the Dunes Club in 1934. At that time, the Spanish-style building was out in the middle of the desert off a newly bulldozed street called Date Palm Drive.
The Dunes Club was first-class, with elegant chandeliers, gilt-edged China, French cuisine and a dress code. Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Carole Lombard and Darryl Zanuck were all visitors.
The Dunes Club burned down in a suspicious fire in 1943. The success of the Dunes, however, induced others to Cathedral City, including Earl T. Sausser, who, in 1939, opened the 139 Club, which featured free chili, sawdust on the floor and numerous slot machines. It appealed to a broad audience until it closed in 1947.
An associate of Wertheimer’s, Frank Portnoy, joined parking-lot mogul Jake Katelman to open the Cove Club, an upscale gambling club on East Palm Canyon Drive. It later became an Elks Lodge; the building was destroyed in a deadly fire in 2024.
The Hub of Gay Bars
Several decades after the arrival of the casinos, Cathedral City became a refuge for gay establishments.
Prior to becoming an incorporated city in 1981, Cathedral City enjoyed looser regulations than other Coachella Valley cities, like Palm Springs, which was then less accepting of LGBTQ+ people.
Some of the earliest gay bars were: Joani’s Place (1957), on Highway 111 near the current Revivals; Queens Attic (1969), at 67901 E. Palm Canyon Drive; GAF (1970), at 68555 Ramon Road; Oil Can Harry’s Spa (1971), at 68981 E. Palm Canyon Drive; The Party Room (1971), at 67977 E. Palm Canyon Drive; Sir James (1971), at 67771 E. Palm Canyon Drive; and Rancho Dandy at the Desert Palms Hotel (1972), at 67580 E. Palm Canyon Drive.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the city launched a downtown revitalization program. A new City Hall was built, as well as movie theaters, an outdoor amphitheater, and new or remodeled retail and restaurant spaces. Construction began on a new shopping center, Cathedral City Cove, in 2023, which is still expanding.
Today, gambling in Cathedral City is not so clandestine: In 2020, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians opened their third valley casino on Highway 111.
Sources for this article include the Cathedral City Historical Society; Bob Hillery, Cathedral City historian; Palm Springs Babylon by Ray Mungo (St. Martin’s Press, 1993); Palm Springs Confidential by Howard Johns (Barricade Books, 2004); and Palm Springs Life, August 1988 issue.
