Northside - City of Riverside

prevalence is unknown. Another description from the 1902 Sears Catalogue helps
illuminate both the uncommonness of domestic bathtubs and the health-related
desire for full immersion bathing:
A desirable necessity is to be found in Cline’s Portable Shower Bath.
No home is complete without a bath. As many homes are not provided
with a tub, this little portable bath is constructed to fill the long felt
want, for a small cost and no trouble. A full, invigo rating, life giving
bath, such as your physician prescribes; always re ady.
Whatever the private bathing amenities of Victorian Riverside, the plunge was such
a draw for local residents that a second well was dug to 370 feet in 1900, which
secured a continuous flow of 50,000 gallons per day. A small motor later increased
the flow to 200,000 gallons per day, which were emptied from the pool each night
and flowed down Strong Street. By the early 1900s, the ultra-pure water of the
mineral spring was being bottled onsite and sold for table water in great quantities
as far as Los Angeles, and the clear waters were a draw for Hollywood film stars
and makers alike such as Buster Keaton, Annette Kellerman, and The Great
Houdini, who in 1919 dived to the bottom of the Elliotta Plunge to release a woman
from a safe (Patterson 1964:82; Hall 1996:121-24).
Throughout the early 20 th century, local Northsiders frequented the plunge, and
visitors and downtown residents were bussed in from the Mission Inn for a dime
(WSSP c. 1960s), but the depressed 1930s led to decreased activity at the resort. In
1937, Dr. N.C. Heron of Los Angeles purchased “Elliotta Plunge,” which was as
often called Elliotta Springs, and demolished it for the construction of a thenmodern
sanitarium and health resort, which centered on the production of Dr.
Heron’s specialty, medicinal eucalyptus oil. The plunge closed in the summer of
1937 for the planting of a Eucalyptus grove and the construction of the new facilities,
which were completed in 1939 (Riverside Press c. 1937:n.p.). It appears that
remnants of this Eucalyptus grove are still extant on the property.
Throughout the 1940s, Heron’s Plunge continued to serve local residents as a spot of
informal recreation and also as one for large parties and events. In 1946, the plunge
was the site for the Calectric Women’s Picnic and Swimming Party, and Northsiders
remember it well as a place to go for special times like birthday celebrations
(Mermilliod & Klure 2005b). In the late 1940s, the pool and buildings were entirely
rebuilt by Frank Heron, son to Dr. Heron (WSSP c. 1960s).
In 1958, Ray and Virginia Morissette purchased “Heron’s Plunge” and the
associated buildings. As part of the improvements the Morissettes made, the mineral
baths were separated from the main pool, and badminton and volleyball courts were
added as well as a shuffleboard deck and water slide (Daily Press 1959:B-10). By
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