Byron Hot Springs, California (Images of America Series)

Byron Hot Springs is sometimes called the "Carlsbad of the West," after the famed European health spas. The resort hosted the famous, the wealthy, the infirm, and the curious alike during the early 20th century. The 160-acre property, in eastern Contra Costa County near the San Joaquin River, featured three grand hotels designed by renowned San Francisco architect James Reid. Amidst this stylish backdrop were prominent guests in 19th-century finery, early Hollywood royalty, Prohibition entertainments, mineral water "cures" for various ailments, and secret interrogations of World War II POWs (when it was known as "Camp Tracy"). Aside from the hot springs themselves, the resort boasts one of the oldest golf courses in the western United States.

In these pages, Byron Hot Springs historian Carol A. Jensen shares the amazing story of one of California's most dramatic resorts through vintage photography and stories. Drawing from the East Contra Costa Historical Society Resource Room, historical archives, period marketing materials, and private collections, these images tell the complete story of Byron Hot Springs for the first time. Contra Costa native Jensen relates the resort's journey from marshy beginnings through its elegant, taffeta-skirted heyday of the 1910s and 1920s (when it rivaled Hotels Del Monte and Coronado in popularity), to the present-day planning for an anticipated reopening.