CARAVAN Thru AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY PALM SPRINGS Held 2/21

Beginning on the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation Section 14. Those who take the tour will drive themselves along the route while listening to a narrated audio transmission inside their cars. 

This tour will introduce you to Black pioneers of our city whose talents and perseverance overcame the prejudices of earlier times. You will see the works of renowned architect Paul R. Williams which include the architecturally significant Town and Country Center (now planned for extensive renovation), and the landmark El Mirador Tower (which is also where Crossley had his office).  Learn about land developer and city planner Lawrence Crossley who came here in the 1920s and who reshaped our landscape, created a reliable water source, and represented local Native Americans to the Federal government at a time when those of African descent were forbidden from owning land. We will visit the Crossley Corners trailer park and the neighborhood that now bears his name. The tour will concluded at Desert Highland Gateway Estates — Palm Springs’ first organized neighborhood — where community activists and athletes of worldwide repute have all lived. We will see First Baptist Church and Ajalon Baptist Church two of our Faith Based Institutions. The Tour will end at the James O. Jessie Desert Highland Unity Center, the centerpiece of the Desert Highland Gateway Estates Community, and the social, cultural, and recreational hub of the Palm Springs area.