| Radium Sulphur Springs | |
| Coordinates: | 34.0835°N -118.3231°W |
| Other Name: | Hollywood Mineral Springs California Mineral Springs |
| Location: | 5625 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038 |
| Spring Source: | Oil test well |
| Elevation: | ? |
| Hot Spring Type: | Geothermal |
Radium Sulphur Springs, located on the north side of Melrose Avenue between Larchmont and Gower Street in Los Angeles, California, U.S., was an early-20th-century hot spring that resulted from an unsuccessful attempt to drill for oil. "Discovered" in 1905 and opened as a spa by G. P. Gehring in 1908,[1] the owners claimed that the water was radioactive, germicidal, and blood purifying.[2] The supposed radioactivity of water was advertised as "liquid sunshine" and was part of the larger radium fad of the early 20th century. The spa was located in Colegrove, an electric-railway stop and associated community just south of Hollywood.
In 1915, a U.S. government geologist reported that the spring's water temperature was and that the water had measurable levels of calcium, carbonate, phosphate, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and sulfate. The same year, owners claimed the waters were "wonderfully curative" for diseases and disorders from catarrh to neurasthenia.[3] The spring water was also bottled and sold for drinking.[4]
The name changed to Hollywood Mineral Springs in 1924. In 1926, the street address was 5625 Melrose, near Larchmont, and the phone number was GLadstone 2149.[5] Services offered 1928 included "mineral Roman tub, mineral steam, marathon bath, mineral colonic, mineral Scotch douche and massage by a graduate. Baths open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m."[6] The spa endured until around 1929 when the Great Depression and the death of the owner shut down the business.[7] [8] [9]
The site reopened as California Mineral Springs briefly in the late 1950s.[10] Circa 1968, the California Department of Water Resources reported that the spa was owned by Mr. Harold Brooks, and the source was an test well, probably drilled in 1905, and while the well had once flowed the "water level [has] declined below land surface and well is now is pumped".[11] The well has reportedly been capped off.[12]