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In Southern California, settlers have long ventured into the Mojave Desert, seduced by its capacious horizons and fragile beauty, only to be abased by the intense heat, bone-dry terrain and maddening isolation. Industry, intent on extracting the land of its essence, set up operations, then walked away when there was nothing left worth taking. Civilization has always pushed into the frontier, and quite often the frontier pushes back. Areas like the forsaken homesteads of Wonder Valley and the abandoned mining operations of Joshua Tree seem simultaneously depleted yet majestically audacious in their quiet desolation, juxtaposed against the breathtaking landscapes of the desert. Abandoned California: The Mojave Desert is a collection of photographs and writings by Andy Willinger that capture the majesty of these forsaken buildings, vehicles and artifacts of the Mojave's once vibrant past. These sites have become meaningful, unintended statements - not only as vibrant, ephemeral artworks of minimal beauty, but as testament to the impact on nature by humanity. Undaunted, the Mojave Desert continues to brashly flaunt its skill in overcoming man's attempts to conquer it.
The ghost towns of Southern California-some dramatic and nearly intact, others devastated-are well worth visiting. Most are remnants of once-colorful mining towns, though there are also railroad towns, a World War II relocation center, a promoter's swindle, and a failed socialist colony. Some excellent attractions remain. One of the best-preserved stamp mills in the West is in Skidoo. Smelters, homes, stores, and the remarkable wooden American Hotel can be found in Cerro Gordo, which the author calls "California's best true ghost town." Seasoned back-roads traveler Philip Varney, who has visited nearly a hundred ghost towns in the area, provides a down-to-earth and helpful guide to more than sixty of the best in Southern California and nearby Inyo and Kern counties. He defines a ghost town as a town with a population markedly decreased from its peak, one whose initial reason for settlement no longer keeps people there. It can be completely deserted, have a resident or two, or retain genuine signs of vitality, but Varney has eliminated those towns he considers either too populated or too empty of significant remains. The sites are grouped in four chapters in Inyo County, Death Valley, the Mojave Desert and Kern River, and the regions surrounding Los Angeles and San Diego. Each chapter provides a map of the region, a ranking of sites as "major," "secondary," and "minor," information on road conditions, trip suggestions, and tips on the use of particular topographic maps for readers interested in more detailed exploration. Each entry includes directions to a town, a brief history of that town, and notes on its special points of interest. Current photographs provide a valuable record of the sometimes fragile sites. Southern California's Best Ghost Towns will be welcomed both by those who enjoy traveling off the beaten path and by those who enjoy the history of the American West.
"Driving through Northern California, you will find sprawling military bases, immense wineries, gold mining towns, and amusement parks all lying abandoned. The combination of different people and industries this part of the state has been home to over the years is intriguingly odd. The ruins that lie in the area today reflect the various ways people attempted to build their future in Northern California--not unlike the innovative ways people still try to build their future in the area today. Whether that involves a cool new start-up, a prominent place in the local, internationally respected wine industry, or seeking inspiration for an amazing new book, all kinds of diverse characters come here to dream and innovate. If there is one thing this cross-section of humanity who flocked to the state had in common, it is the will to forge ahead into the unknown. Inventors, military men, gold prospectors, entrepreneurs--they all, in their own ways, took their risks and chances in this newer part of the USA, to create a life, a business, a work of art or science that had never been done before. This is the legacy that has formed Northern California today."
"From prospectors' haunts in old ghost towns dating back to the Gold Rush, to the now-almost-deserted roadside towns of Route 66, the history of Southern California lives on through its abandoned towns and buildings. Through old settlements and institutions, now left to decay in the high desert or even in the middle of bustling, glamorous Los Angeles, readers can get a glimpse into the waves of migration that shaped the spirit of Southern California. The story of the state seems to repeat throughout different decades: California was perceived as the land of unlimited opportunities and renewed hope for incoming migrants, yet often led to a harsher and more challenging existence in real life. Nevertheless, the dreamers and fortune seekers who moved out West, whether for gold, land, spiritual reasons, health, or to escape the rapidly spiraling East Coast during the Great Depression, always persisted. As they moved from one location to the next to seek their fortune, their ambitions, failures, and lives became encased in the places they left behind. This book is the story of those people and places, and the enduring forces that created California as it is today."--Back cover.
In Southern California, settlers have long ventured into the Mojave Desert, seduced by its capacious horizons and fragile beauty, only to be abased by the intense heat, bone-dry terrain and maddening isolation. Industry, intent on extracting the land of its essence, set up operations, then walked away when there was nothing left worth taking. Civilization has always pushed into the frontier, and quite often the frontier pushes back. Areas like the forsaken homesteads of Wonder Valley and the abandoned mining operations of Joshua Tree seem simultaneously depleted yet majestically audacious in their quiet desolation, juxtaposed against the breathtaking landscapes of the desert. Abandoned California: The Mojave Desert is a collection of photographs and writings by Andy Willinger that capture the majesty of these forsaken buildings, vehicles and artifacts of the Mojave's once vibrant past. These sites have become meaningful, unintended statements - not only as vibrant, ephemeral artworks of minimal beauty, but as testament to the impact on nature by humanity. Undaunted, the Mojave Desert continues to brashly flaunt its skill in overcoming man's attempts to conquer it.
High in the Inyo Mountains, between Owens Valley and Death Valley National Park, lies the ghost town of Cerro Gordo. Discovered in 1865, this silver town boomed to a population of 3,000 people in the hands of savvy entrepreneurs during the 1870s. As the silver played out and the town faded, a few hung on to the dream. By the early 1900s, Louis D. Gordon wandered up the Yellow Grade Road where freight wagons once traversed with silver and supplies and took a closer look at the zinc ore that had been tossed aside by early miners. The Fat Hill lived again, primarily as a small company town. By the last quarter of the 20th century, Jody Stewart and Mike Patterson found themselves owners of the rough and tumble camp that helped Los Angeles turn into a thriving metropolis because of silver and commercial trade. Cerro Gordo found new life, second to Bodie, as California's best-preserved ghost town.
Originally intended as an examination of the rise and fall of the state hospital system, Matthew Christopher's Abandoned America rapidly grew to encompass derelict factories and industrial sites, schools, churches, power plants, hospitals, prisons, military installations, hotels, resorts, homes, and more.
In the past century, dreams have flourished in the deserts of California, fueled by gold, war, optimism and wealth, only to later be abandoned. Homes, mines, utopian societies, railroads, airports, airplanes, cars, gas stations, and more were eventually forsaken. Already a place of mystery, the desert seems even more so at night as shadows wander, winds whisper, and stars slowly swim across the sky. Explore with the author as he illuminates these forgotten locales while creating haunting long exposures of several minutes or more, slowing the passage of time into a single image. If you are a fan of creative photography, American history, abandoned sites, or have an insatiable curiosity for travel, Abandoned Southern California: The Slowing of Time invites you on a surrealistic night journey.
Is there a shadow over this sunny land of healthful vigor and natural abundance? This region includes the Central Coast, the San Joaquin Valley, and metropolitan Los Angeles and San Diego, where readers will encounter the spirits of gold prospectors, cowboys, Spanish padres, and movie stars, as well as the phantom camels of Fort Tejon, the shape-shifting witch of Tulare, underwater UFOs, ghosts aboard the Queen Mary, and the tragic specter of Marilyn Monroe.
Eerie haunts and stories of apparitions stretch along the California coast from Monterey Bay to the Channel Islands. James Dean's presence lingers at the site of his deadly car crash on Highway 46, and a ghost-in-residence presides over the Robert Louis Stevenson house in Monterey. Learn of the ghoulish murders of the Reed family at the San Miguel Mission, the mysterious spirits that haunt the Hearst Castle and the twisted tales of strange occurrences in what was once the Camarillo State Hospital. Join author Evie Ybarra as she explores the unexplained along this infamous coast.