Byron Hot Springs (CA) (Images of America)

Byron Hot Springs (CA) (Images of America) Review

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.

Fred Harvey Houses of the Southwest (NM) (Images of America) (Images of America (Arcadia Publishing))

Fred Harvey Houses of the Southwest (NM) (Images of America) (Images of America (Arcadia Publishing)) Review

The Fred Harvey name will forever be associated with the high-quality restaurants, hotels, and resorts situated along the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway in the American Southwest. The Fred Harvey Company surprised travelers, who were accustomed to dingy beaneries staffed with rough waiters, by presenting attractive, courteous servers known as the Harvey Girls. Today many Harvey Houses serve as museums, offices, and civic centers throughout the Southwest. Only a few Harvey Houses remain as first-class hotels, and they are located at the Grand Canyon, in Winslow, Arizona, and in Santa Fe, New Mexico.