In the 1920s, San Diegans did not have to travel to Las Vegas for a taste of luxury, entertainment, and excitement.
They only had to head south.
Across the international border in Tijuana, the Agua Caliente resort became one of the most glamorous destinations in North America, attracting visitors from San Diego, Southern California, and Hollywood during an era when crossing the border was part of the adventure.
Built in 1928, Agua Caliente was far more than a casino. The ambitious resort combined a hotel, restaurants, gardens, swimming pools, entertainment venues, a casino, golf course, and other recreational attractions into one carefully designed destination. A horse-racing track was added in December 1929.
The Agua Caliente was the place to be as well as be seen. (Photos and caption info courtesy of the San Diego History Center)It offered an early glimpse of the destination-resort culture that would later become synonymous with places such as Las Vegas.
San Diego’s backyard getaway
Agua Caliente, exterior building in1935. (Photo and caption info courtesy of the San Diego History Center)Agua Caliente’s success was closely tied to the growth of tourism on both sides of the border.
Following the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, San Diego increasingly promoted itself as a destination for visitors. Improved roads and the growing popularity of automobile travel made Tijuana an easy excursion, while the city’s location just north of the international border put Agua Caliente within easy reach of San Diegans and other Southern Californians.
During Prohibition, when alcohol was illegal in the United States, Tijuana also offered visitors an escape from restrictions at home.
An interior view of a large game room in Agua Caliente, Mexico. Several chandeliers hang down from the ceiling. A roulette table is in the center of the room with stools around it. Other stools and chairs are at the sides of the room. The rest of the room is quite empty. 1935 roulette wheel. (Photo and caption info courtesy of the San Diego History Center)Gambling and other forms of entertainment available across the border added to the attraction. Historical research describes Agua Caliente as drawing an affluent California clientele, particularly from the film and oil industries.
Agua Caliente courtyard c. 1935. (Photo and caption info courtesy of the San Diego History Center)For San Diegans, Tijuana was not a distant destination.
It was a nearby international escape.
A resort built around the experience
(Photos and caption info courtesy of the San Diego History Center)Agua Caliente was designed as a complete leisure environment.
Visitors could stay at the hotel, dine in elegant restaurants, relax in landscaped gardens, swim, attend entertainment events, play golf, and visit the casino without leaving the sprawling property.
Overview of Agua Caliente Race Track near Tijuana in Mexico in 1930 showing back of grandstand on left. (Photo and caption info courtesy of the San Diego History Center)The architecture emphasized atmosphere and experience. Courtyards, terraces, and outdoor spaces connected different areas of the complex, encouraging guests to spend hours enjoying the surroundings.
(Photos and caption info courtesy of the San Diego History Center)Historic photographs show guests dining outdoors among landscaped gardens, lounging in the lobby, and reflecting the resort’s emphasis on elegance, relaxation, and social life.
(Photos and caption info. courtesy of the San Diego History Center)Agua Caliente was not simply a place to gamble.
It was a place to be seen.
Hollywood crossed the border
The resort quickly developed a reputation as a glamorous playground for entertainers, wealthy travelers, and celebrities.
Agua Caliente Country Club in Tijuana, Mexico. The men from left to right are identified as: Billy Burke, Walter Hagen, and Ed Dudley. They are posed in golfing attire, each holding a golf club. Agua Caliente buildings are seen behind them. (Photo and caption info courtesy of the San Diego History Center)For Hollywood figures, Agua Caliente offered an international getaway within relatively easy reach of Los Angeles and San Diego. Its combination of luxury accommodations, nightlife, recreation and entertainment made it a natural attraction during Hollywood’s Golden Age.
Among those connected with the resort was Margarita Cansino, who performed there as a young dancer before becoming Hollywood star Rita Hayworth.
Left: Before she was Rita Hayworth, she was Margarita Carmen Cansino. (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia, public domain) 1931. Right: Rita Hayworth in the iconic film Gilda. (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia, public domain)The racetrack expands the spectacle
Left: Group of people watching horse race at Sunset Inn Race Track in Tijuana, Mexico in Baja California in about 1925. This racetrack preceded Agua Caliente Race Track, which opened in December 1929. Right: view of 5th race of the day at Agua Caliente racetrack in Tijuana, Mexico. (Photos and caption info courtesy of the San Diego History Center)Agua Caliente was not Tijuana’s first racetrack. The earlier Sunset Inn track was already attracting crowds by the 1920s, part of a growing entertainment scene that drew visitors across the border. Agua Caliente later took horse racing to a much grander scale with its new track, which opened in December 1929.
The resort’s appeal reflected the close relationship between Southern California’s growing entertainment industry and the attractions available just across the border.
Postcard with an illustration of jockeys at the Agua Caliente racetrack, a hot spot where many stars visited. (Postcard courtesy of SDSU University Library Digital Collections)The Agua Caliente Jockey Club opened its new horse-racing track in December 1929. The modern facility could accommodate tens of thousands of spectators and immediately became another major attraction.
(Photos and caption info courtesy of the San Diego History Center)Horse racing brought another audience to the complex and strengthened its reputation as a destination built around leisure and spectacle. Together, the hotel, casino, racetrack and other amenities created a self-contained world designed to keep visitors entertained.
The resort also became an important part of Tijuana’s tourism economy, helping draw visitors whose spending supported businesses throughout the city.
A glamorous era comes to an end
Agua Caliente’s success depended heavily on the conditions of its time.
In 1935, Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas moved to prohibit gambling in Mexico. On July 20, 1935, Tijuana’s casinos, including the Salón Dorado at Agua Caliente, were ordered closed. The resort company argued that the complex could not remain economically viable without gambling and ultimately suspended its operations.
Elaborate Interior of the casino and famous gold bar, Agua Caliente, Tijuana, Mexico, where Hayworth performed as Margarita Carmen Cansino. (Postcard courtesy of SDSU University Library Digital Collections)The property later served other purposes, including as an educational institution. The city of San Diego’s digital archives note that the Agua Caliente complex reopened as a school in 1939.
Although the original resort eventually disappeared, its legacy remained.
(Photo courtesy of the San Diego History Center)Agua Caliente helped popularize an idea that would later become central to American tourism: the destination resort, where lodging, dining, entertainment, and recreation were combined into one immersive experience.
Today, Las Vegas may be the city most associated with casino resorts, but decades earlier, San Diego’s border region offered its own version of glamour.
For a brief, remarkable era, the road south led not just to another country — but to one of the most talked-about resorts on the continent.
Read more history stories here.
Sources:
San Diego History Center digital collections and archival materials on Agua Caliente Casino and Hotel.City of San Diego Digital Archives, historical materials related to Agua Caliente.Historical research on Tijuana tourism, cross-border travel, and Prohibition.
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