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History · Desert Palms

Desert Palms’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Desert Palms. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Desert Palms is a census-designated place in the Coachella Valley of eastern Riverside County, southern California. As of the 2020 census, Desert Palms had a population of 6,686. A gated 55+ senior living community, Sun City Palm Desert, comprises the majority of the included area.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 6,957 to 6,686 (-4%). Half of its homes were built before 2000.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Desert Palms yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Be one of the first

Start Desert Palms’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Desert Palms’s history is told.

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people from Desert PalmsWriters, athletes, leaders and more who were born in Desert Palms.Meet them →
By decade

Desert Palms, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Desert Palms is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Desert Palms has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Miles C. Bates House in Palm Desert, 5.8 miles away.

Desert Palms and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Desert Palms. Tap a dot.
Miles C. Bates HouseKenaston HouseArthur Elrod HousePalm Springs Municipal Airport TerminalPalm Springs City HallSandcliff

Closest to Desert Palms

Miles C. Bates HousePalm Desert · Building5.8miKenaston HouseRancho Mirage · Building7miArthur Elrod HousePalm Springs · Built 196812.3miPalm Springs Municipal Airport TerminalPalm Springs · Building12.4miPalm Springs City HallPalm Springs · Building12.6mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Miles C. Bates House’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Desert Palms?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Desert Palms’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Palm Desert📜 Indio📜 Indian Wells📜 Rancho Mirage
The coffee’s on

Where to, neighbor?

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/19 · 2025-01-01
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