Palm Springs Historical Society - Palm Springs, California

John F.

My husband and I try a bike tour in each city we visit - we find cycling is a great way to see the city and learn the history of the place we are visiting. Joe was our docent for the "Mid Mod Oasis" tour, this ride was 9 miles over 3ish hours. Small tour, ours had 10 people on it. Ride was fairly easy as Palm Springs is mostly flat, the city is cyclist friendly! The docent provided each rider with a an earpiece, which they then spoke into during the ride, and at local stops. The docent had a binder of history, with pictures included of local sites, insides of homes, etc. Our only suggestion for future tours would be to cover cycling basics (hand signals, single vs. double lines, etiquette of riding on one or both sides of the street). We have had these instructions on other tours and appreciate the safety behind them. If you love history, the outdoors and cycling, we would recommend this for you!

G B.

Wanted to praise a staff member (unfortunately I have since forgotten her name) who was so proactive in noticing that we were keenly interested in several of the historical buildings on the morning of 1/28/2025. She came out and gave us an impromptu tour of the McCallum Adobe, Ruddy's General Store and the Trini Lopez Exhibit. We really appreciated their knowledge and enthusiasm and it was a highlight of our time in Palm Springs.

Adam S.

If you come to Palm Springs I highly recommend you come to the historical society. They have several exhibits (cost is like $1 per exhibit), and you'll get a sense of the uniqueness of the area. Very cool historical destination.

Tom L.

We took two walking tours with the society: Rat Pack Playground & Golden Era Hollywood Homes. The tour guides were very knowledgeable. The tours were a good combination of architecture education & the history of celebrity life in Palm Springs.

The distance covered was very reasonable and the terrain was very manageable. Would highly recommend their tours to increase your knowledge of how the city came to be and how mid century modern began to flourish.

Kamira

Did the Bike Like a Star tour. Very informative, lots of history about the area as well as the stars. Headsets were nice, made it much easier to hear. Ride was mostly easy with a lot of stops. A few hills only one of which was steep; walking is totally fine, guide was very considerate.

Note that the tour is closer to 4 hours, than the 3 the site says. It did start to feel a little long but all good stops so I don’t know what I’d cut.

Holly

Today my friends and I took the Cherished Legacy tour. It was great. I'd you are looking for history this is the tour for you. Yes it's in a cemetery so not a ton of walking. This is the tour to take if you want to learn more about the people who helped make Palm Springs what it is today. Our guide Cecile was so great . The passion she holds for the history of Palm Springs shows in her storytelling of all the characters. Highly recommend this tour
I would also like to compliment Steven on his help in getting our tour booked. He went above and beyond

Suz S.

A lot of reading: wall placards and such. Interesting if not easy for our modern brains. it would be grand if they got some more physical items. I enjoyed what was there regarding famous players of old palm springs. clean. donation. Closes early(ish)

Kelly ?.

Talk about lazy. I have no respect for the Palm Springs Historical Society if they can’t update their website. Website says they’re open. Us and a few other couples arrived to find the place closed.