Thermal, California

History

On December 30, 1823, Brevet Captain Jose Romero led an expeditionary military expedition finding a route to Tucson from San Gabriel passes in the foothills west of Thermal and Martinez Indian Village (South of Thermal). Thermal (originally Kokell) began as a railroad camp in 1910 for employees of the Southern Pacific Railroad, followed by Mecca (originally called Walters) in 1915 and Arabia in between, each with about 1,000 residents. Permanent dwellings were soon established on Avenue 56 (renamed Airport Boulevard), former U.S. Route 99 (State Route 86) and State Route 111 by the 1930s.

Agricultural development from canal irrigation made the area thrive in greenery by the 1950s, followed by the former Camp Young U.S. Naval Air station converted into Thermal Airport by 1965. In the early 1990s, a four-lane highway (State Route 86) was constructed over an earlier transportation route. There is a proposal for a major commercial aviation Airport known as the Jackie Cochran-Desert Cities Regional Airport on the same site.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 9.5 square miles (25.5 km), all of its land.

Climate

Thermal has a desert climate (BWh according to the Köppen climate classification). High mountain ranges on three sides contribute to its unique and year-round warm climate, with some of the warmest winters west of the Rocky Mountains. Its average annual high temperature is 88.7 °F and its average annual low is 56.3 °F. Summer highs above 110 °F occur on average 28 days per year and exceed 120 °F every other year. Summer nights often stay above 80 °F. Winters are warm with daytime highs rarely below 60 °F, although light freezes happen every year. The average annual precipitation is under 3 in, with over 348 days of sunshine per year. The hottest temperature ever recorded in the area was 126 °F on July 28, 1995, and the coldest is 14 °F on December 23, 1990.

|Jan record high F = 94 |Feb record high F = 100 |Mar record high F = 103 |Apr record high F = 110 |May record high F = 116 |Jun record high F = 123 |Jul record high F = 126 |Aug record high F = 122 |Sep record high F = 123 |Oct record high F = 114 |Nov record high F = 98 |Dec record high F = 93 |year record high F = | Jan avg record high F = 82.8 | Feb avg record high F = 86.4 | Mar avg record high F = 94.1 | Apr avg record high F = 101.9 | May avg record high F = 106.8 | Jun avg record high F = 114.4 | Jul avg record high F = 116.9 | Aug avg record high F = 116.0 | Sep avg record high F = 112.3 | Oct avg record high F = 103.4 | Nov avg record high F = 91.5 | Dec avg record high F = 80.8 | year avg record high F = 119.0

| Jan avg record low F = 27.2 | Feb avg record low F = 30.5 | Mar avg record low F = 36.6 | Apr avg record low F = 41.7 | May avg record low F = 50.5 | Jun avg record low F = 58.2 | Jul avg record low F = 64.0 | Aug avg record low F = 63.1 | Sep avg record low F = 55.6 | Oct avg record low F = 43.1 | Nov avg record low F = 31.3 | Dec avg record low F = 25.0 | year avg record low F = 23.4 |Jan record low F = 17 |Feb record low F = 19 |Mar record low F = 24 |Apr record low F = 32 |May record low F = 41 |Jun record low F = 50 |Jul record low F = 57 |Aug record low F = 52 |Sep record low F = 48 |Oct record low F = 28 |Nov record low F = 20 |Dec record low F = 14 |year record low F =

Demographics

|align-fn=center 2010

Thermal first appeared as a census-designated place in the 2010 U.S. census.

The 2020 United States census reported that Thermal had a population of 2,676. The population density was 285.2 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Thermal was 15.1% White, 0.6% African American, 1.6% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 56.4% from other races, and 25.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 94.5% of the population.

The census reported that 99.6% of the population lived in households, 0.4% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized.

There were 664 households, out of which 56.0% included children under the age of 18, 54.8% were married-couple households, 7.2% were cohabiting couple households, 21.8% had a female householder with no partner present, and 16.1% had a male householder with no partner present. 13.6% of households were one person, and 6.0% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 4.01.

The age distribution was 32.5% under the age of 18, 10.2% aged 18 to 24, 27.1% aged 25 to 44, 21.1% aged 45 to 64, and 9.0% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 29.6years. For every 100 females, there were 108.6 males.

There were 719 housing units at an average density of 76.6 /mi2, of which 664 (92.4%) were occupied. Of these, 48.8% were owner-occupied, and 51.2% were occupied by renters.

Education

There are several schools in the Coachella Valley Unified School District that are in and near the community. These include schools in Salton City, 20 miles south of Coachella, in Imperial County, California. In Thermal, they are Westside Elementary (K-6), Oasis Elementary (K-8), Mountain Vista Elementary (K-6), Saul Martinez Elementary (K-6), Mecca Elementary (K-6), Edward Park Elementary (K-5), Toro Canyon Middle (6–8), Bobby Duke Middle (6–8), John Kelley Elementary (K-6), Coachella Valley High (9–12), Cesar Chavez Elementary (K-6), Cahuilla Desert Academy (Junior High: 7th and 8th grade), Desert Mirage High School (9–12), West Shores High School (9–12) and La Familia Continuation High (9–12).

College of the Desert, a community college based in Palm Desert has opened a new satellite campus, the East Valley Educational Center, on the corner of 62nd Avenue and Buchanan Street.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport (formerly Thermal Airport) is located about 1.6 miles southwest of the community. The Union Pacific Railroad owns and operates the former Southern Pacific Railroad mainline through Thermal.

The region is served by a two-lane expressway. California State Route 86 and California State Route 111 are modern transportation corridors that serve as a fruit shipping and international trucking route to connect with Interstate 10 in Indio.

Cemeteries

The Toro Cemetery is located on Monroe Street.

The Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians maintain a small (48 interments) cemetery on Martinez Road.

Sports

Thermal Club

The Thermal Club is a private motorsports facility situated on 344 acre south of Thermal. This private country club for automotive enthusiasts plans to build a 4.5 mi with 300 lots for member-owned garages and villas. the first 1.8 mi was in use by early members and for media and promotional events with two more courses planned. In 2017, BMW completed construction of their BMW Performance Driving Center West, which is home to the BMW Performance Driving School.

In March 2024 the club hosted the $1 Million Challenge, a special non-championship all-star race for the 2024 IndyCar Series. For the 2025 season, this race became a points-paying race.

Desert International Horse Park

The Desert International Horse Park is located west of Thermal. It is home to events sponsored by the United States Equestrian Federation and the United States Hunter/Jumper Association.

References

• Nordland, Ole J., History of the Coachella Valley County Water District, Second Ed., (Coachella, California: Coachella Valley Water District, 1978).
• Map: "Road Map of California, 1958," (Sacramento, California: State of California, Department of Public Works, Division of Highways).
• California Region Timetable: 14, (Modesto, California: Altamont Press, 2003).
• U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics

Notes

References

1. Grantham, D. W. (February 1984) [http://mydesertmagazine.com/files/198402-DesertMagazine-1984-February.pdf "Towns and Places of the Coachella Valley"] {{Webarchive. link. (2011-12-02 [[Desert Magazine]] 48:1 pp 39-40)
2. {{Cite GNIS. 1652768. Palm Springs
3. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau.
4. {{gnis. 2583161
5. "Explore Census Data".
6. (May 24, 2020). "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". United States Census Bureau.
7. Nordland, Ole J. (May 1968) [http://www.cvwd.org/news/publication_docs/coachella_valleys_golden_years.pdf "Coachella Valley's Golden Years"] {{webarchive. link. (2015-02-01 ''Coachella Valley County Water District'')
8. [http://www.maptechnica.com/us-city-boundary-map/city/Thermal/state/CA/cityid/0678456 "Boundary Map and Geodata for the CDP of Thermal in California, U.S.A."]. MapTechnica.com. Retrieved August 9, 2014
9. "Decennial Census by Decade".
10. "2010 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - California".
11. "Thermal CDP, California; DP1: Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics - 2020 Census of Population and Housing".
12. "Thermal CDP, California; P16: Household Type - 2020 Census of Population and Housing".
13. "U.S. Board on Geographic Names".
14. "33°35'18.1"N 116°13'50.0"W".
15. Nathan Brown. (31 January 2023). "Inside The Thermal Club: What a $5.2 million membership gets you (and why IndyCar is testing)".
16. Undercoffler, David (August 9, 2014) [http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-desert-racing-club-20140809-story.html "At the Thermal Club, wealthy gearheads will have private vrooms"] ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''
17. FLEMMING, JACK. (2019-07-05). "In Thermal, a motorsports community offers life in the fast lane". [[Los Angeles Times]].
18. WICK, JULIA. (2019-11-24). "Plans for a luxury surf resort in an impoverished desert community spark inequity battle". [[Los Angeles Times]].
19. (2024-06-13). "IndyCar unveils 2025 schedule; Thermal Club becomes points round".