North Shore is a census-designated place in southeastern Riverside County,[2] so named because of its location along the northeast shore of the Salton Sea. It was once a popular vacation destination spot before ever-increasing salinity and pollution of the Salton Sea shut the tourist trade down. North Shore is flanked to the north and south by the Salton Sea State Recreation Area. The population was 3,585 at the 2020 census, up from 3,477 at the 2010 census.
One building is particularly noteworthy. The North Shore Beach and Yacht Club, an Albert Frey design, opened in 1962 and was in active use until 1984; rising water levels destroyed the jetty in 1981, thereby making it impossible for boats to dock there. As recently as the early 2000s, it was possible to enter the lobby prior to its being boarded up, although stairs leading to the second floor had been removed prior to its abandonment. The lobby was once littered with hotel receipts from the neighboring North Shore Motel (razed in 2008) dating back to the club's last days. The yacht club has been restored under a $3.35 million grant and since 2011 is open to the public as a Community Center and historical landmark. The Salton Sea History Museum was relocated to Mecca, California in February 2012.
North Shore is accessible via State Route 111 at the Imperial County line. The wildlife refuge and campground is a short distance south of the town.
History
Indigenous Cahuilla
For many eras, the Desert Cahuilla's native home was the Coachella Valley. The Cahuillas would use the nearby Dos Palmas Spring as a water stop, which was also the eastern edge of their empire. The Cahuillas would travel from their village in Martinez to Dos Palmas Spring via an ancient Native American trail known as the Cahuilla-Halchidhoma Trail. This prehistoric trail traversed the vicinity of the modern town of North Shore.
Spanish Explorers
In 1615, Juan de Iturbe, a Spanish explorer, set sail from Acapulco and headed north along the Sea of Cortez. He eventually reached the ancient Lake Cahuilla, which at the time was connected to the Sea of Cortez and also its northernmost point. There, his ship became beached in the shallow waters, and his precious cargo of black pearls was lost forever in the vast desert. The legend of his lost treasure, gained attention after the Great Flood of 1862, when locals reported seeing the outline of an ancient Spanish Galleon near North Shore in the Salton salt marshes.
Juan Bautista was the first European to make contact with the native Cahuilla in 1774 traveling through the Borrego Valley
In 1774, Juan Bautista de Anza led a surveying expedition from Mission San Xavier del Bac (Tucson) to San Gabriel Mission (Los Angeles). de Anza traveled through the Borrego Valley just south of Coachella Valley in late February and encountered the native Cahuillas, becoming the first European to make contact.
On February 28, 1776 Friar Francisco Garcés on an expedition from Tucson traveling north on the Colorado River encountered Halchidhoma natives which guided him west on the Halchidhoma trail eventually reaching the Pools of Tesquien (40 miles east of North Shore) today known as Chuckwalla Springs. The Halchidhoma informed Garcés that the trail they traversed connected them to the Cahuilla's lands. They failed to provide Garcés with guides and he had better luck further North on the Colorado River with the Mojave natives. If the Halchidhoma had provided guides they would've kept following the trail west entering the Coachella Valley through North Shore (Dos Palmas Spring) and reached his destination, the San Gabriel Mission near Los Angeles. Instead Garcés traveled around the Mojave Desert, reaching his destination through the Cajon Pass/Mojave Trail.[3]
By the 1810's Spanish presence was quickly approaching the Coachella Valley by way of San Gorgonio pass. The Spanish had begun expanding their influence east of the newly discovered San Bernardino Valley. The Spanish performed baptisms at Wanapiapa a Cahuilla village near Whitewater, where the Cahuilla-Halchidhoma Trail passed through.
Beginning in 1815, Spanish missions throughout Alta California collectively recruited soldiers and donated resources to begin a long journey from the Pueblo of Los Angeles to collect salt from brine pools at the Salton sink known as the evaporating ancient Lake Cahuilla. The Spanish would collect salt near the Salton salt marshes (close to North Shore). This practice went on yearly until the 1830s; the salt journeys were referenced at the time as Jornadas de Sal. [4]
Mexican Era / Romero Expedition
In December 1823, under orders from the Mexican emperor Agustín de Iturbide in Mexico City to reopen a land route (closed by an Yuman Indian Revolt in 1781) from Alta California to Sonora, Captain José Romero and José María Estudillo documented the first recorded European expedition into the Coachella Valley. They used the Cahuilla-Halchidhoma Trail and are escorted by the Cahuilla to Dos Palmas Spring, reaching it on December 31, 1823. They camp for four days before advancing eastward past the Cahuilla Lands. Romero's party returns to the Coachella Valley after their Indian guides not familiar to the area led them astray near Palen Lake.
Beginning in the early 1820's Mexican Vaqueros on the Cahuilla-Halchidhoma Trail would travel south east of the San Gorgonio pass and into Sec-he, a Cahuilla village with a hot spring. the Spanish named the village Agua Caliente today known as Palm Springs. It is reported some Mexican Prospectors did some mining in the eastern Coachella Valley possibly near the Mecca Hills, located adjacent to North Shore.
In December 1825 after two years of waiting José Romero successfully completed the journey to Tucson using the same Cahuilla-Halchidhoma trail. Alongside Romualdo Pacheco and Julián Valdéz they agreed the trail should only be used as a mail route and opted to use the southern Immgrant Trail as a traveling route due to the typical hostile Yumas submitting to tentative peace talks with the Mexicans in the 1830's.
For the following years the Mexicans used the Cahuilla-Halchidhoma trail as a mail route from California to Sonora although it was used sporadically. Dos Palmas near North Shore was an Important stop on the trail.
In August 1846 Governor Pío Pico and General José Castro escaped to Sonora following the Capture of Los Angeles using the Cahuilla-Halchidhoma trail. at the time the Americans did not know about this route which ensured his safety of not getting apprehended by the Invading American military.
In January 1847 Mexican Californio resistance leader José María Flores escaped to Sonora with around 30 Mexican soldiers after their defeat at the Battle of La Mesa. Romero followed the Cahuilla–Halchidhoma trail, passing east of the San Gorgonio Pass to Dos Palmas, then across the Algodones Dunes, and finally reached the Yuma Crossing.
American Era / Bradshaw Trail
1840s
In late November 1846, General Stephen W. Kearny led the Army of the West during the Mexican-American War. He used the Southern Emigrant Trail. (40 Miles South of North Shore). Mexico surrendered Alta California to the USA in January 1847.
1850s
California became a U.S. state in 1850.
Williamson wrote in his 1853 journal of an ancient water line left from the ancient Lake Cahuilla, still visible today
In November 1853 2nd Lt.Robert S. Williamson led a survey party to survey an optimal train route for the Southern Pacific railroad known as the Pacific Railroad Surveys. Williamson surveyed the San Gorgonio Pass and the Coachella Valley, becoming one of the first Anglo-Americans to visit the Coachella Valley and document the ancient Lake Cahuilla. Although this initial expedition only surveyed the Western Coachella Valley at the eastern foothills of Santa Rosa Mountains subsequent expeditions chose a Railroad route that passed near the vicinity of North Shore onto the Algodones Dunes then terminating the extension line at Yuma.
1860s
In 1862 William D. Bradshaw connected La Paz Gold mines to Los Angeles using the prehistoric Indian Cahuilla-Halchidhoma Trail shown to him by Jose Cabazon and the Halchidhomas. Bradshaw renamed it the Bradshaw Trail. A stagecoach rest stop on the trail known as "Lone Palm", "Palma Seca", or "Bitter Spring" was located between the Mecca Box Canyon and the Hidden Spring Canyon, in the vicinity of North Shore. This trail was used by many travelers traversing from Arizona to California. The railroad would eventually replace the stagecoach trail.
1870s
On December 27, 1875 US President Ulysses S Grant signed an executive order forming 13 Indian reservations in the Southern California Area. The Cahuillas had their land divided, the Torres-Martinez reservation was established just west of the town of North Shore.
Southern Pacific Rail Road
1880s
Southern Pacific constructed a railroad connecting Yuma to Coachella Valley that traversed adjacent to North Shore. The railroad began construction in 1879 and was completed in 1883. During the construction a handful of rail stations and small towns were established. One of the rail stations was Mortmere Station.
The New Liverpool Salt Company was established in 1883 on the rail station of Salton, just south of North Shore. It was a major producer of salt.
Salton Sea / Mortmere Station
Salton Sea creation 1905-1907Sand bags placed near the railroad tracks attempting to mittigte the rising water in 1905
1900s
From September 1905 to February 1907, the Colorado River overflowed into the Salton Sink, which had an ancient history of previous iterations of lakes. This time, the engineering disaster led to the creation of the modern Salton Sea. The disaster led to several SPRR train depots, rail stations and The New Liverpool Salt Company becoming permanently inundated. The railroad had to be moved north, and depots and stations rebuilt. The rebuilt station of Mortmere was renamed Mortmar and eventually was the foundation stone for the modern town of North Shore.
Gus Eiler's Date Palm Beach
Mortmere Station is seen on a map as early as 1914.
1920s
A handful of communities were established along the Salton Sea shoreline. Among the first, and certainly the first on the northern shore, was Date Palm Beach. In 1926, Gus Eilers with the help of promoter John Goldthwaite acquired land from the Southern Pacific Railroad near the Mortmere train station. Eilers planned for an exotic escape, using Egyptian motifs and Middle Eastern architecture.
1930s
The first small building and pier were constructed in 1930. In 1932, Eilers moved two Olympic cottages from Los Angeles; they served as the first guest houses in Date Palm Beach. Soon, a new pier was erected. Eilers' wife and children joined him in 1934 to run the business.
The Coachella Canal began construction in the 1930s. Trenching was done north of the town of North Shore at the base of the Mecca Hills.
1940s
In 1942 The Desert Training Center began operation. Established by Major General George S. Patton, Jr. in response to a need to train American combat troops for battle in North Africa during World War II. It covered 18,000 square miles (47,000 km2). It was the largest military training ground ever to exist. Over one million men were trained at the eleven sub-camps scattered throughout the California Desert. Soldiers from the nearby Camp Young HQ or Thermal Army Air Field would come visit Date Palm Beach in the town of North Shore for recreational activities.
In 1946, the Eilers family sold Date Palm Beach to C. Roy Hunter, who renamed the place Desert Beach. The Desert Beach Yacht Club was established.
By 1953, all improvements along the waterfront were a total loss. Litigation was brought against the Coachella Valley Water District and the Imperial Irrigation District, but Hunter died before the case was decided in 1960, in favor of Desert Beach's new owners.
Major development began in 1958 when developers Ray Ryan and Trav Rogers purchased a tract of land about a half mile north of Desert Beach to begin construction on "North Shore". Plots of land were sold.
Golden Decade
1960s
In 1960 construction was started on the North Shore Beach & Yacht Club, and the North Shore Motel, designed by Albert Frey. Both opened in 1962, and North Shore's marina was one of the largest in Southern California. For several years, North Shore was a popular place for celebrities like the Beach Boys, Jerry Lewis, Frank Sinatra, and others.
Developers Ray Ryan and Trav Rogers actively promoted the Salton Sea as “California’s inland sea” and a desert paradise. Travel magazines, newspapers, and advertisements highlighted fishing tournaments, boating events, and celebrity appearances. This “glamorous getaway” image boosted visitor numbers far beyond what Yosemite, could attract at the time. Annual visitors to the Salton Sea reached over 1.5 million, compared to Yosemite’s roughly 1 million in the 1960's.
Decline & Despair
State and scientific reports had warned in the 1960s that salinity would likely make the Sea ecologically collapse by the 1980s or 1990s.
In 1968 California passed a statute (Assembly Bill 461) declaring that the primary use of the Salton Sea should be the collection of agricultural drainage, seepage, and other flow a policy that had long-term environmental implications. Unfortunately, like other communities around the Salton Sea, fluctuating water levels, increasing salinity, and contamination of the waters plagued North Shore.
1970s
The North Shore development initially included planned housing estates; though, not all developments fully materialized leaving undeveloped vacant residential lots.
On September 7, 1976 Hurricane Kathleen a Category 1 Pacific hurricane had a destructive impact on the entire Coachella Valley. This event and further floods stalled progress in the Eastern Coachella Valley. Eventually, the tourism business was depleted.
1980s
Aerial dog fight with northern end of the Salton Sea in the background in 1982
Another devastating flood in 1981 destroyed the jetty, rendering the marina unusable, and in 1984, the Yacht Club closed. Following the closure of the yarcht club which was the main attraction at North Shore Marina the town came to despair and was neglected, A town that had begun as a resort for much of its existence had now begun a transition to agriculture and small ranches as well as residential properties while still maintaining a rural feel.
1990s
In the 1990's Scientists and agencies warn that as water inflows decline over time, the Salton Sea may shrink, exposing more dry lakebed and that this could produce dangerous dust storms for nearby communities. The 1990's for North Shore represent a lull period, not of growth but of decline and abandonment.
2000s
Photograph taken from ISS in Space of North Shore in October 2006
In the early 2000's the Yacht Club fell into disparity the shoreline retreated inward after evaporation and agricultural runoff kept adding toxicity to the Salton Sea.
In October 2003 The Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA) is signed, shifting Colorado River water from farming Imperial & Coachella Valleys to urban users in San Diego. This means less agricultural runoff will eventually flow to the Salton Sea. As lake inflows drop, more lake bed will be exposed, especially along the north and east shores, and dust problems will spike.
In May 2007 Rock Group Linkin Park used the abandoned Yatch Club as the backdrop to their album cover for Minutes to Midnight.
In November 2008 The North Shore Motel at the Salton Sea was demolished. Officials debated demolishing the heavily vandalized former Yacht Club adjacent to the demolished Hotel but community involvement came up with a plan to revitalize it.
In July 2009 the County of Riverside secured above $3 million in funding to restore the deteriorating Yacht Club.
2010s
In January 2010 construction was well underway on the former Yacht club renovated into a museum & community center. On May 1, 2010 it opened its doors to the public as the Salton Sea History Museum & Community Center.
On June 3, 2011 The Salton Sea History Museum vacated due to leasing & funding issues. The community center remains open to present date.
On September 17, 2013 Grand Theft Auto 5 was released and it featured likeness to the town of North Shore in the open world video game. One of the main characters Trevor Philips lives in Sandy Shores, on the shore of Alamo Sea which is the fictional name of the North Shore Community and Salton Sea.
In 2017 the Salton Sea’s shoreline begins retreating more quickly, exposing additional lake bed around communities like North Shore. Air quality monitors and health studies document rising PM10 and other dust in the Eastern Coachella Valley, with children showing high asthma rates in Mecca, North Shore, and nearby. Reports by state and university researchers highlight that the newly exposed lakebed is a major dust source, carrying salts and farm pollutants from decades of runoff.
On October 12, 2018 the North Shore Community Park opened to the public. It was the first Recreational Park in the community's history.
In Late Fall 2018 the ColGreen North Shore Solar Power Plant, a nearly 100-megawatt solar farm began operation on roughly 480 acres, just west of North Shore. On February 15, 2019 the Solar Power Plant hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Re-Development
2020s
The COVID-19 Pandemic hit the Eastern Coachella Valley hard. Many of the community residents were essential workers during the pandemic working the agricultural fields while the global health crisis was going on.
On October 19, 2023 a ground breaking new developmental project aiming to bring recreation and tourism back to the town revitalizing the area to the desert Rivera it once was, was presented by congressman Eduardo Garcia it was named the North Lake Pilot Demonstration Project. Planned as a habitat and dust-control project, designed to re-flood or cover exposed lake bed with water, wetlands, or vegetation to keep dust down.
On January 14, 2025 the Chuckwalla National Monument was established adjacent to North Shore enabling more tourism to return to the town.
On August 11, 2025 North Shore Elementary School opened its doors establishing a school within in the community, the first in the town's history.
In 2026 the first phase of the North Lake Pilot Demonstration Project is scheduled to commence construction.
The year 2030 marks the 100 year centennial of the initial development of Date Palm Beach the first permanent settlement in the community of North Shore. At the site of Date Palm Beach there are still wood posts, remnants of the historic Pier buried but protruding out of the lake bed.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 11.2square miles (29.0km2), of which 99.95% is land.
The whole population lived in households. There were 832 households, out of which 56.1% included children under the age of 18, 65.5% were married-couple households, 5.5% were cohabiting couple households, 17.2% had a female householder with no partner present, and 11.8% had a male householder with no partner present. 8.5% of households were one person, and 3.6% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 4.31.[21] There were 741 families (89.1% of all households).[22]
The age distribution was 32.4% under the age of 18, 12.2% aged 18 to 24, 26.5% aged 25 to 44, 21.2% aged 45 to 64, and 7.7% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 28.4years. For every 100 females, there were 103.0 males.[21]
There were 882 housing units at an average density of 78.9 unitsper square mile (30.5 units/km2), of which 832 (94.3%) were occupied. Of these, 74.8% were owner-occupied, and 25.2% were occupied by renters.[21]
↑cite web |last1=Wood |first1=Raymund F. |title=Francisco Garcés Explorer of Southern California |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41170246 |website=Southern California Quarterly |access-date=26 October 2025 |pages=185–209 |doi=10.2307/41170246 |date=1969
↑Guinn, J. M. (1907). "Las Salinas (the Salt Pits)". Annual Publication of the Historical Society of Southern California. Historical Society of Southern California. p.169. doi:10.2307/41168637. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
Japenga, Anna (Fall 2009). Herron, Keith; Lech, Steve (eds.). "Going for Shipshape". The Riverside County Chronicles (1). Riverside County Historical Commission; Riverside County Regional Park and Open-Space District: 6–10. ISBN978-1546974598. OCLC869939412.
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