The city's elevation is 56 feet (20 m) above sea level. It was predominantly a part-time community until around that time.Īccording to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.6 square miles (92 km 2), of which 35.1 square miles (91 km 2) is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km 2) (1.22%) is water. In the 1980 census, La Quinta had 4,200 residents, then increased to 11,215 by 1990 in the city's early phases of residential area growth. Īs nearby desert cities grew to capacity, La Quinta's growth rose dramatically by the mid-1980s, which led to its incorporation as a city in Riverside County in 1982. Further expansion of Washington Street in the 1950s and 1960s connected La Quinta with US Highways 60 and 99 (became Interstate 10 in the 1970s). The Resort was the site for the Coachella Valley's first golf course, coinciding with the construction and pavement of State Route 111 in the 1930s. In 1926, Walter Morgan established the La Quinta Resort at the northern section of Marshall Cove as a type of secluded hideaway for nearby Hollywood's celebrities and socialites. At the time, California and federal land surveyors declared the sand dunes uninhabitable, only the hard rock ground of the 'Marshall Cove' held potential farming and residential development. In the late-19th century and early-20th century (1880–1920), agriculture developed in present-day La Quinta and 'East Valley' by pre-modern (mountain water runoff or open water springs) and modern irrigation techniques. The Cahuilla Indians were the first inhabitants of La Quinta.

In January 2008, the Arnold Palmer Classic Course at the city's SilverRock Golf Resort became one of the four host golf courses for the annual Bob Hope Chrysler Classic PGA golf tournament. The Tom Fazio-designed golf course at The Quarry at La Quinta is ranked among the top 100 golf courses in the United States. Among those destinations is the La Quinta Resort and Club, a resort dating to 1926, where director Frank Capra wrote the screenplay for Lost Horizon.

The Robb Report credits La Quinta as the leading golf destination in the US. The population was 37,467 at the 2010 census, up from 23,694 at the 2000 census. Located between Indian Wells and Indio, it is one of the nine cities of the Coachella Valley.

La Quinta (a Spanish idiom meaning 'the country villa') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States.

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