Key Takeaways:

• Traces how late‑19th‑century Southern California became a magnet for invalids, health seekers, and nature‑cure advocates drawn by promises of a healing climate and fresh air.
• Shows how boosterism, railroad promotion, and resort advertising turned medical migration into a powerful engine for real‑estate development, tourism, and town‑building.
• Details the rise of sanitariums, health resorts, and early vegetarian/health‑food enclaves, revealing how “health” became a selling point for the region’s identity.
• Helps explain why Southern California later became a cradle for modern health food stores, yoga culture, and wellness tourism—much of it rooted in this earlier wave of experimental healing.