Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States California Los Angeles King George Hotel

King George Hotel

Where a great scandal unfolded with a famous female revivalist at its center.

Los Angeles, California

Added By
Rachel James
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
  knoxium / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

The King George Hotel is not much to see among the vivid murals and classic Art Deco architecture that runs rampant in Venice, but it holds its own mystique as the location of a popular L.A. scandal.

Surprisingly, this controversy wasn't swirling around a starlet or a leading man, but a popular female evangelist of the 1920s and 1930s, Aimee Semple McPherson. McPherson was the founder of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, and was a pioneer of modern evangelism, incorporating entertainment and media such as radio into her weekly sermons at the Angelus Temple.

The popular revivalist was staying at the King George Hotel, a common party spot for celebrities and L.A. someones, when she mysteriously vanished while swimming on May 18, 1926. Assuming the water had overtaken her, her followers pitched themselves into a panic, and divers searched the waters in vain. Two men involved in the search, one a parishioner and one a professional diver, lost their lives in the pursuit for answers, but Aimee was nowhere to be found.

The media and hundreds of mourners converged onto the beach, and Upton Sinclair wrote a touching poem about the tragedy. The world said goodbye to the enigmatic woman of God, stolen by the sea. But McPherson had not actually drowned in the Pacific, and over a month later, she turned up in the Mexican town of Agua Prieta with a hard to swallow story about chloroform and kidnapping, torture at the hands of a sinister couple, Steve and Mexicali Rose. After a valiant escape and a 12 mile walk through the blazing desert, she claimed to have fought her own way back to freedom.

Unfortunately for the once widowed and once divorced Aimee, her story had an astonishing amount of holes in it, and her disappearance just happened to coincide with the disappearance of a married staff member of her radio show. That, along with sightings of the two at a cottage in Carmel-by-the-Sea, foiled her grand story.

After being charged with obstruction of justice by a grand jury, McPherson turned her trials and the trial itself into more fodder for her radio show, making her more popular than ever. She never admitted to the affair, or any other for that matter.

Related Tags

Hotels Places To Stay Scandal

Community Contributors

Added By

Rachel

Edited By

Molly McBride Jacobson, knoxium, travelcoast34

  • Molly McBride Jacobson
  • knoxium
  • travelcoast34

Published

July 25, 2010

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aimee_Semple_McPherson
  • http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/la/scandals/aimee.html
King George Hotel
5 Rose Avenue and Ocean Front Walk
Los Angeles, California, 90291
United States
33.994881, -118.480374
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Ballerina Clown

Los Angeles, California

miles away

Binoculars Building

Los Angeles, California

miles away

Jadis

Santa Monica, California

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Los Angeles

Los Angeles

California

Places 237
Stories 60

Nearby Places

Ballerina Clown

Los Angeles, California

miles away

Binoculars Building

Los Angeles, California

miles away

Jadis

Santa Monica, California

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Los Angeles

Los Angeles

California

Places 237
Stories 60

Related Stories and Lists

19 Unusual Hotels in California

List

By Kavya Ram Mohan

33 Places Famous for the Scandals That Occurred There

List

By Molly McBride Jacobson

Related Places

  • The pool of the Trixie Motel.

    Palm Springs, California

    Trixie Motel

    This bright and bubbly Palm Springs hotel was the brainchild of an iconic drag queen.

  • Ilidža, Bosnia and Herzegovina

    Hotel Austria & Bosna

    In 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand spent his final night alive at this luxurious hotel.

  • Belleair, Florida’s historic Belleview Inn dates back to 1897.

    Belleair, Florida

    Belleview Inn

    This historic hotel has hosted the likes of Babe Ruth, Jimmy Carter, and the Vanderbilts.

  • Inside the dining room at Libušín

    Pustevny, Czechia

    Libušín a Maměnka

    A folk-art cottage and hotel straight from a Slavic fairy tale.

  • Lido, Italy

    Grande Albergo Ausonia & Hungaria

    An intricate ceramic tile facade adorns this five-star hotel.

  • Redstone Castle

    Redstone, Colorado

    Redstone Castle

    This Rocky Mountain mansion was the luxurious home of the authoritarian leader of a company town.

  • A very MiMo office

    Miami, Florida

    The Vagabond Hotel

    This post-war motel embodies a little-known, Miami-born architectural style.

  • Stowe, Vermont

    Trapp Family Lodge

    Vermont's hills are alive with the sound of music at this historic hotel.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.