When the Agua Caliente Casino and Hotel opened on June 22, 1928, in Tijuana, Mexico it was the perfect place for Hollywood stars to escape Tinseltown to have some fun. Gambling, liquor, and horse racing were all illegal in California at the time, so being just across the border was very enticing for the likes of celebrities that included Charlie Chaplin and Clark Gable. Rita Hayworth performed here before she was famous.
The laws of California that prohibited these vices caused a trio of American businessmen to see it as an opportunity they could exploit. Dubbed the “Border Barons” Wirt G. Bowman, Baron H. Long, and James N. Crofton bankrolled the development of the entire resort, which included a casino, spa, championship golf, and tennis courts as well as its own airstrip, and a lot of live entertainment.
The men selected Tijuana as the location for the resort because ever since the beginning of the Mexican Revolution in 1910 the border town had gained a reputation as an epicenter for vice activities. Liquor, prostitution, and gambling were all commonplace in California’s proverbial backyard.
Bowman was the mastermind of the development. He had already created an extremely successful gambling joint called the Foreign Club, also in Tijuana. Baron H. Long’s expertise came in the hospitality department, as he was already a successful California hotel and nightclub owner. Crofton had experience in the horse racing business. These were the right men who came along at the right time to create this little venture.
19-year-old architect Wayne McAllister was commissioned to design The Agua Caliente Casino and Hotel (he would later go on to design Lawry’s restaurant in Beverly Hills). Stylistically, the resort was a hodgepodge of styles blending Mexican colonial, California mission, and neo-Islamic designs with an Art Deco flair.
Americans flocked to the resort. Everyone from aristocrats and Hollywood stars to movie moguls and mobsters enjoyed the new venue.
By far the most popular aspect of Agua Caliente was the racetrack. Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Gloria Swanson, Charlie Chaplin, Bing Crosby, and Gary Cooper were all regulars at the track. In addition to horses, ostriches often raced on the track. This was the first track to feature things that are now commonplace: starting gates, safety helmets, and “pick six” wagering. Tom Mix and Jack Dempsey spent so much time at the track they were named honorary field judge and honorary starter, respectively.
In the early 1930s Eduardo Cansino, a vaudevillian performer in Los Angeles and the father of Rita Hayworth decided to take their act, “The Dancing Cansinos” down to Agua Caliente in hopes that it would propel her dancing career.
“I knew if I took Rita by the hand and visited the casting offices we would get nothing but exercise. So, I gave up my dancing school seven months ago and accepted a longstanding offer to dance at the Agua Caliente. Rita was my partner. I knew most of the studio executives visit Caliente from time to time.” – Eduardo Cansino
The act had typically been performed twenty times per week. It was a fruitful decision as somebody from Fox Film Corporation noticed 16-year-old Rita and signed her.
Mobsters were also interested in Agua Caliente with high-profile criminals Bugsy Siegel and Al Capone occasionally visiting the property. Not all gangsters went to enjoy the property in a leisurely way, however. On May 20, 1929, a pair of American gangsters hijacked the truck transporting money to a bank in San Diego, making off with the loot and killing the driver and guard inside. This attack was notable as it was the first robbery ever to use automatic machine guns to commit a crime.
In 1935, Mexico’s President Lázaro Cárdenas outlawed gambling, and the resort, with the exception of the racetrack, was closed. In 1938 the famous horse Seabiscuit also won the Agua Caliente Handicap.
The casino was replaced by a state-run school, Escuela Preparatoria Federal Lázaro Cárdenas, which no longer exists. As for the racetrack, it burned down in 1971 and was rebuilt. It continues to operate as the Agua Caliente Racetrack and Casino.
