On December 8, 1941, sixty miles from the ocean, the US Navy rolled into Norco. There, on the grounds of the former Norconian Resort, the federal government built what may have been the finest and most complete World War II naval hospital in the nation. The first patients to arrive were those wounded during the attack on Pearl Harbor; they were cared for in luxurious rooms once reserved for movie stars. By 1945, approximately 5,000 sailors and Marines were being treated. In 1951, the smartest physicists, engineers, and mathematicians in the world set up laboratories in the hospital's...
On December 8, 1941, sixty miles from the ocean, the US Navy rolled into Norco. There, on the grounds of the former Norconian Resort, the federal gove...
The Norconian Resort Supreme was a magnificent disaster. A chance discovery of "hot sulfur water" in 1926 led entrepreneur Rex Clark to construct one of the finest and most comprehensive recreation facilities on the West Coast. Movie stars, Olympic champions, and the richest of the rich flocked to it. Sadly the Norconian debuted just months before the onset of the Great Depression, and very quickly Rex Clark's $4.5-million dream became known as "Rex's Folly." The resort eventually became one of the preeminent naval hospitals in the nation, a top-secret think tank, and a...
The Norconian Resort Supreme was a magnificent disaster. A chance discovery of "hot sulfur water" in 1926 led entrepreneur Rex Clark to construct one ...