The silent sentinels of San Gorgonio Pass have a history longer than most people realize. Back in 1926, two ambitious guys named Drew Oliver and W. Sperry Knighton cobbled together the area’s first wind turbine using—get this—parts from an old roller coaster. Talk about recycling. Their contraption featured aluminum propellers and a wind-catching funnel that could pivot to face the wind. Pretty clever for the ’20s. Too clever, actually. The thing burned out when the winds got too strong.
Innovation often comes from unexpected places—like Palm Springs’ first wind turbine built from roller coaster scraps in 1926.
Nobody really cared about wind power after that failed experiment. The turbine sat there like a weird desert sculpture until 1942 when someone finally put it out of its misery.
Fast forward to 1982. Suddenly everybody’s talking about alternative energy, and San Gorgonio Pass becomes ground zero for a wind transformation. Over 3,000 turbines sprouted up by the mid-80s. Why there? Simple physics. The pass funnels wind between two mountain ranges at a perfect 15-20 mph clip.
Locals hated them at first. Really hated them. “Eyesores” was the polite term. But funny how things change. Those same mechanical monsters gradually transformed into Palm Springs’ unofficial welcome committee. Now tourists actually pay money to see them up close. The Palm Springs Windmill Tours has been running for over 40 years. That’s longer than most marriages.
The technology evolved too. Early turbines stood maybe 80 feet tall. Today’s giants tower over 330 feet. And there used to be a lot more of them—4,200 at the 1987 peak. Now there’s just over 1,220. Fewer turbines, more power. That’s called progress. Modern turbines have dramatically improved, now converting up to 45% of wind energy into usable electricity.
What started as a bizarre experiment with roller coaster parts has become the region’s identity. These massive pinwheels now symbolize sustainability and clean energy. The area currently contains 27 different projects working together to harness the desert winds. Southern California Edison built the Wind Energy Center in 1980 to test various turbine designs before commercial deployment. Not bad for something that was once considered visual pollution. Sometimes the ugliest ducklings really do become the most beautiful swans.
