The Palm Springs area's original inhabitants were the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, who named the area "la palma de la mano de Dios" meaning "the palm of God's hand."

After Mormons arrived in San Bernardino around 1852, settlers began moving south, and by the 1870s, visitors started arriving to enjoy the natural hot springs, from which the town takes part of its name.

By the late 1930s, Palm Springs' population reached several thousand, and in the late 1930s, stars from the burgeoning Hollywood film industry discovered Palm Springs as a relaxing getaway. From the 1930s through the 1950s, many big stars such as Bob Hope, Elvis Presley, Debbie Reynolds, Lucille Ball, Kirk Douglas, Jack Benny, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin owned houses here.

Growth slowed during the 1970s, but today Palm Spring is once again popular with the rich and famous, and it has become a center for those interested in "mid-century modern" (otherwise known as 1950s) architecture and design.

Today, the Cahuilla Indians still own half of Palm Springs in plots arranged in a checkerboard pattern, and they have opened a new casino hotel across the street from the old Hot Springs Hotel.