North Shore Mortmere/Mortmar
Census-designated place
The North Shore Beach and Yacht Club in 2018
Location in Riverside County and the state of California
North Shore Location within the state of California Show map of southern California North Shore North Shore (California) Show map of California North Shore North Shore (the United States) Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 33°30′46″N 115°55′38″W / 33.51278°N 115.92722°W / 33.51278; -115.92722
Country	United States
State	California
County	Riverside
Settled	1910's;1960's
Incorporated CDP	2010
Named for	Northern End of the Salton Sea ("North Shore") French: Mort[e] Mer ("Dead Sea")
Government
• Type	Unincorporated County
Area [1]
• Total	11.177 sq mi (28.949 km2)
• Land	11.177 sq mi (28.949 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0 km2)  0%
Elevation [2]	−69 ft (−21 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	3,585
• Density	320/sq mi (120/km2)
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP codes	92254
Area codes	442/760
GNIS feature ID	2583097

North Shore is a census-designated place in southeastern Riverside County,^[2] so named because of its location along the northeast shore of the Salton Sea. It was once a popular vacation destination spot before ever-increasing salinity and pollution of the Salton Sea shut the tourist trade down. North Shore is flanked to the north and south by the Salton Sea State Recreation Area. The population was 3,585 at the 2020 census, up from 3,477 at the 2010 census.

One building is particularly noteworthy. The North Shore Beach and Yacht Club, an Albert Frey design, opened in 1962 and was in active use until 1984; rising water levels destroyed the jetty in 1981, thereby making it impossible for boats to dock there. As recently as the early 2000s, it was possible to enter the lobby prior to its being boarded up, although stairs leading to the second floor had been removed prior to its abandonment. The lobby was once littered with hotel receipts from the neighboring North Shore Motel (razed in 2008) dating back to the club's last days. The yacht club has been restored under a $3.35 million grant and since 2011 is open to the public as a Community Center and historical landmark. The Salton Sea History Museum was relocated to Mecca, California in February 2012.

North Shore is accessible via State Route 111 at the Imperial County line. The wildlife refuge and campground is a short distance south of the town.

For many eras, the Desert Cahuilla's native home was the Coachella Valley. The Cahuillas would use the nearby Dos Palmas Spring as a water stop which was also the eastern edge of their empire. The Cahuillas would travel from their village in Martinez to Dos Palmas Spring via an ancient Native American trail known as the Halchidoma Trail. This trail traversed the vicinity of the modern town of North Shore.

Spanish Explorer Melchior Diaz is the first non-indigenous person to set foot and explore inland California in December 1540 near the Yuma Crossing and Imperial Valley (90 miles southeast from North Shore).

Spanish Explorer Juan de Onate, the first Spanish Governor of New Mexico, lead a surveying expedition in 1605 on the Colorado River from the Grand Canyon to the mouth of the Colorado River to try to find the fabled Buenaventura River (70 miles east from North Shore).

Legend of Juan de Iturbe's Lost Pearl Ship in the Desert is a local legend that after the 1862 Great flood locals reported seeing an ancient Spanish galleon that had beached during a voyage at New Spain's northernmost frontier of water the last ancient Lake Cahuilla. In reported cases, the ship was allegedly seen in the salt marshes just south of North Shore.

Juan Bautista de Anza led a colonizing expedition in 1774, from Mission San Xavier del Bac (Tucson) to San Gabriel Mission (Los Angeles). Anza traveled through the Imperial Valley just south of North Shore and encountered the native Cahuillas becoming the first Spanish to make contact with the Cahuillas.

Friar Francisco Garcés, on an expedition from Tucson traveling north on the Colorado River, reached the Pools of Tesquien (40 miles east from North Shore) today known as Chuckwalla Springs on February 28, 1776 possibly by using the Halchidoma Trail. If he had kept following the trail, he would've entered the Coachella Valley (through North Shore) and reached his destination the San Gabriel Mission near Los Angeles. Instead, Garcés traveled around the Mojave Desert eventually reaching his destination through the Cajon Pass/Mojave Trail.

Spanish missionaries from the San Gabriel Mission would make the long journey to collect salt from brine pools near the Salton sink known as the evaporating ancient Lake Cahuilla in 1810.

Alta California swears loyalty to the New Mexican Empire in 1822 led by Emperor Agustín de Iturbide in Mexico City.

In December 1823 under orders from the Mexican emperor to reopen a land route (closed by an Indian Revolt In 1871) from Alta California to Sonora, Captain José Romero and José María Estudillo documented the first recorded expedition into the Coachella Valley. They use the Halchidoma Trail and are escorted by the Cahuilla to Dos Palmas Spring reaching it December 31, 1823. They camp for four days before advancing eastward past the Cahuilla Lands. Romero's party returns to the Coachella Valley after getting lost near Palen Lake.

Fort Romualdo Pacheco, the only Mexican settlement in the Colorado Desert located in Imperial Valley, was completed in 1825.

In late November 1846, General Stephen W. Kearny leads the Army of the West during the Mexican-American War. He uses the Southern Emigrant Trail. (40 Miles South from North Shore) Mexico surrendered Alta California over to the USA in January 1847.

California became a US State in 1850.

Robert S. Williamson led a survey party in late November 1853 to survey an optimal train route for the Southern Pacific railroad known as the Pacific Railroad Surveys. Williamson Surveyed the San Gorgonio Pass and the Coachella Valley becoming one of the first Anglo-American to visit the Coachella Valley.

in 1862 William D. Bradshaw connected La Paz Gold mines to Los Angeles using the prehistoric Indian Halchidoma Trail and renaming it the Bradshaw Trail. A stagecoach rest stop on the trail known as "Lone Palm", "Palma Seca", or "Bitter Spring" was located between the Mecca Box Canyon and the Hidden Spring Canyon, in the vicinity of North Shore. This trail was used by many travelers traversing from Arizona to California. The railroad would eventually replace the stagecoach trail.

Southern Pacific constructed a railroad connecting Yuma to Los Angeles that traversed near the town site. The railroad was completed in 1869.

The New Liverpool Salt Company was established in 1883 near the town of Salton, just south of North Shore. It was a major producer of salt.

From 1905 to February 1907, the Colorado River overflowed into the Salton Sink which had an ancient history of previous iterations of lakes. This time the engineering disaster led to the creation of the modern Salton Sea. The disaster led to several SPRR train depots and stations becoming inundated permanently. The railroad had to be moved north and depots and stations rebuilt. The rebuilt station of Mortmere eventually was the foundation stone for the modern town of North Shore.

A handful of communities were established along the Salton Sea shoreline. Among the first, and certainly the first on the northern shore, was Date Palm Beach. In 1926, Gus Eilers (with the help of promoter John Goldthwaite) acquired land from the Southern Pacific Railroad near the Mortmere train station. Eilers planned for an exotic escape, using Egyptian motifs and Middle Eastern architecture. The first small building and pier were constructed in 1930. Eilers moved two Olympic cottages from Los Angeles in 1932, and they served as the first guest houses in Date Palm Beach. Soon, a new pier was erected. Eilers' wife and children joined him in 1934 to run the business and Date Palm Beach did well through World War II, when soldiers visited from nearby bases.

In 1946, the Eilers family sold Date Palm Beach to C. Roy Hunter, who renamed the place Desert Beach. The Desert Beach Yacht Club was established. In 1948 the sea's level began to rise. By 1953 all improvements along the waterfront were a total loss. Litigation was brought against the Coachella Valley Water District and the Imperial Irrigation District, but Hunter died before the case was decided in 1960, in favor of Desert Beach's new owners.

Major development began in 1958 when developers Ray Ryan and Trav Rogers purchased a tract of land about a half mile north of Desert Beach to begin construction on "North Shore." Plots of land were sold, and in 1960 construction was started on the North Shore Beach & Yacht Club (designed by Albert Frey) and the North Shore Motel. Both opened in 1962, and North Shore's marina was one of the largest in Southern California. For several years, North Shore was a popular place for celebrities like the Beach Boys and Jerry Lewis. Unfortunately, like other communities around the Salton Sea, fluctuating water levels, increasing salinity, and contamination of the waters plagued North Shore. A flood in 1981 destroyed the jetty, rendering the marina unusable, and in 1984 the Yacht Club closed.

On September 7, 1976 a Category 1 Pacific hurricane had a destructive impact on the entire Coachella Valley. This event and further floods stalled progress in the eastern Coachella Valley. Eventually, the tourism business was depleted. A town that had begun as a resort for much of its existence had now begun a transition to agriculture and small ranches as well as residential properties while still maintaining a rural feel.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 11.2 square miles (28.9 km²), all of it land.

The 2010 United States Census^[3] reported that North Shore had a population of 3,477. The population density was 311.1 inhabitants per square mile (120.1/km²). The racial makeup of North Shore was 1,394 (40.1%) White, 33 (0.9%) African American, 26 (0.7%) Native American, 18 (0.5%) Asian, 5 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 1,884 (54.2%) from other races, and 117 (3.4%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 3,313 persons (95.3%).

The Census reported that 3,477 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.

There were 750 households, out of which 542 (72.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 550 (73.3%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 83 (11.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, 52 (6.9%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 47 (6.3%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 10 (1.3%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 47 households (6.3%) were made up of individuals, and 13 (1.7%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.64. There were 685 families (91.3% of all households); the average family size was 4.83.

The population was spread out, with 1,388 people (39.9%) under the age of 18, 418 people (12.0%) aged 18 to 24, 918 people (26.4%) aged 25 to 44, 621 people (17.9%) aged 45 to 64, and 132 people (3.8%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 23.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.9 males.

There were 854 housing units at an average density of 76.4 per square mile (29.5/km²), of which 606 (80.8%) were owner-occupied, and 144 (19.2%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.0%; the rental vacancy rate was 12.5%. 2,826 people (81.3% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 651 people (18.7%) lived in rental housing units.

• Salton Sea State Recreation Area
• Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge

• Japenga, Anna (Fall 2009). Herron, Keith; Lech, Steve (eds.). "Going for Shipshape". The Riverside County Chronicles (1). Riverside County Historical Commission; Riverside County Regional Park and Open-Space District: 6–10. ISBN 978-1546974598. OCLC 869939412.

• North Shore at Google Maps
• North Shore Epodunk.com profile
• Where the Ghost Bird Sings by the Poison Springs Outside article
• History of the town and yacht club at sci.sdsu.edu