They chose Palm Springs for its year-round good weather and the surrounding mountains that gave shelter from the desert winds. The site was on Indian land, which the tiny municipality leased from the Indians and the federal government in turn leased from the city. 
The engineers built an A-frame terminal building and two runways. There was a large concrete parking area plus appropriate taxi areas. Because of the threat of war, concrete parking pads with taxiways leading to them were built in many parts of town. These pads were for dispersal of aircraft away from the field in case of a foreign attack.
 

Once the war was over, there having been no enemy attack, the buildings and paved areas were given to the city, with the land still leased from the Indians. When the Palm Springs Indian Lands Equalization Bill passed congress in 1961, the land could be legally sold to the city. With the help of $841,956 in federal aid, the citizens voted a bond issue to raise $717,214, the balance of the $1,559,170 purchase price. At the same time, the City Council created the Airport Commission to administer the facility.
 

The first scheduled commercial airline flights started in 1964. With the growth of the valley as a resort destination, large numbers of civilians did want to fly in and out of Palm Springs. This growth made evident the need to upgrade the physical plant, and in 1965 construction began on a $1.4 million terminal building.
 

The growing traffic also dictated the building of a control tower and establishment of a 10-mile-diameter controlled airspace zone in 1967, ensuring more stringent and safe airport operations. The terminal was expanded again in 1968 to add the airline ticketing wing. In October of 1973, the first regularly scheduled wide-bodied DC-10 landed in Palm Springs....