A Century of Healing
The Old Bathhouse: A Short History of Jacumba Hot Springs
The Old Bathhouse is a 1920s hot springs building in Jacumba, about 70 miles east of San Diego. People once came from far and wide to soak in the mineral water that flowed through it. A fire in the 1970s took the second story. Today the ruin is a venue for live music and art.
Why People Came to Jacumba
Jacumba sits in the high desert of eastern San Diego County, about 70 miles east of the city and a short walk from the border. The water comes up from the ground warm and full of minerals. That was reason enough to make the trip.
In the 1920s, the trip got easier. The San Diego and Arizona Railway ran through town. Old Highway 80 brought the cars. Jacumba became a resort stop, and the bathhouse was the point of it. For a lot of people, it was the first natural hot spring near San Diego they had ever seen.
People came to soak. Some came to heal. Most came to get out of the city and sit in hot water in the desert. That is still a good reason.
The Fire and the Long Quiet
In the 1970s, a fire burned the second story of the Bathhouse. What was left stood open to the weather. For decades it sat abandoned.
The desert does not rush. Sun and wind worked on the walls. The building held.
The Old Bathhouse Today
Five years ago, we cleaned it up and brought the Old Bathhouse back to life. We kept the walls. We kept the ruin. We made it a venue for music and art inside its historic walls.
Every summer, a curated lineup of bands takes the stage inside the ruins under the open sky. The roof is gone, so the night is the ceiling. It may be the only historic bathhouse in San Diego County where you can see a show.
Same walls, different kind of healing.