Roaring '20s
Mecca for Hollywood Stars
Four years later, Mae Sadler Mead married architect James Reid in New York City. The two returned to San Francisco where Mae Reid continued as President of the Byron Hot Springs Corporation. She and her husband made their home at the Fairmont Hotel, the building he designed. The property was leased to John Tait, a well known San Francisco restaurateur, under the auspices of the "Byron Hot Springs Resort." Tait is perhaps most known today as the proprietor of the San Francisco establishment where Rudolf Valentino, of silent film fame, was discovered while employed as a dancer.
John Tait and his managers quickly turned
the resort into a Mecca for Hollywood stars and San Francisco socialites. Golf was then the rage and the modest 9 hole golf link was expanded to 18 holes. The San Francisco Seals used the Springs for spring training, rest and relaxation. "Lefty" O’Doul claimed that it was the therapeutic effects of the peat mud baths that allowed the famed baseball picture to go the extra innings. Clark Gable wooed the Spreckles girl at the Springs. Fatty Arbuckle, Francis X. Bushman and other stars found their way to the resort. Empty, brown "Jos. Kennedy" brand whisky with the Kennedy name pressed in the glass have been found in bottle dumps on the site dating from Prohibition.
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