By Bill Pumford, Image from Russ Keller Collection
TITLE: ARROWHEAD SPRINGS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WAR EFFORT – WORLD WAR II: During the period between the two world wars the Arrowhead Springs Hotel returned to normal as one of the premier resorts in Southern California, at least until 1938 when a tragic fire destroyed it. The hotel was rebuilt quickly, and Arrowhead Springs would be ready when needed for World War II. As the war progressed the patient load became quite heavy and additional facilities were needed. The Arrowhead Springs Hotel was again drafted to help in the war effort when the Navy leased the facility. After a great deal of modifications, the resort was ready for use as a hospital. On May 23, 1944, the Naval Convalescent Hospital Arrowhead Springs was commissioned, and on May 24, 500 ambulatory patients were transferred to the new hospital from the Norco Naval Hospital. The new Arrowhead Springs Hospital was located on 1700 acres, had 10 bungalows and 139 rooms in the hotel, the famous swimming pool, steam baths, and a theater. This week’s image shows the cover of a hospital brochure which helped people understand a bit of the history and showed pictures of the inside of the hospital. The community rallied around the hospital with activities such as inviting staff and patients to barbeques, entertainment provided by the local USO, and local crafters making 500 afghans for the patients, since it was thought that quilts might be too heavy. In August of 1944, a 2000-acre brush fire near Waterman Canyon forced the evacuation of hundreds of patients from the hospital. The hospital fire department and local fire crews helped keep the fire from doing much damage. In July of 1945, the hospital officially changed its name from U.S. Naval Convalescent Hospital to U.S. Naval Special Hospital although there had not been any change in function. The hospital closed in April of 1946 as the patient load decreased and was reopened as a resort in June of 1946.