The school had only one classroom and a large room with a stage covered by stacked chairs.
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| I imagine this might have been a teachers lounge. |
And a little kitchen.
Several dilapidated pianos remained in the school.
I drove around to see what other abandoned places I could find in this amazing town, and happened upon a vast junkyard. Hundreds, maybe thousands of old cars blanketed the land, many from the 60s and some even older. I got out to take a closer look, waiting for vicious guard dogs to pierce the quiet day. But the only security measure was a flimsy barbed wire fence.
A big two-story house stood near where I'd parked. The second story had windows all the way around, probably so the owner could keep a watchful eye on the sprawling junkyard. Many of the windows were boarded up, which meant the place was most likely abandoned.
I stepped inside an open RV.
The large two-story house was begging to be explored, but I was a little nervous that I might encounter an angry squatter. I got my pepper spray ready and looked for an entry point. A busted out window led into a bedroom, where the disembodied head of a deer stared out from beneath the covers.
Instead of climbing through the bedroom window, I tried a door and was amazed to find it unlocked. I walked into a well-stocked kitchen.
The pantry shelves were full of decades-old products.
It seemed most of the possessions had been left behind when the house was vacated, and shockingly the place had not been disturbed by vandals.
The medicine cabinet in the bathroom contained products like ether and other strange tonics you can’t find in stores nowadays.
The house must have been great in its heyday, spacious with a second story that overlooked the expansive junkyard and desert in every direction.
The second story contained some interesting artifacts.
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| Beer can with a pull tab |
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| Ancient treasure? |
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| Horrors |
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| A pamphlet from 1936 |
I'm not sure what the purpose of this shuttered opening was. It led to a long fall down the stairwell.
After exploring the house, I drove past an old trailer park.
On the way out of Desert Center I stopped to explore another abandoned gas station several miles down the highway.
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| I am not crazy about graffiti unless it's artfully done, but I couldn't help but smile at the positive message painted on the old gas station. |
The foundations of another building lay nearby.
I explored the land behind it, where I found a dumping ground of old tires, thousands of rusted cans, and broken glass. I could hardly believe how much trash was there.
I jumped in my car and set out to find the ghost town of Eagle Mountain.
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Thank you!
I'm fascinated by abandoned places as well.....but lack the courage to check them out. I guess I'm always afraid I might encounter drug addicts holed up in there or something. So nice to find this blog.
ReplyDeleteIt gives me the chance to "see" these places. Thanks for sharing
I'm glad you like the blog. Thanks so much for checking it out. I'm surprised how rarely I've run into sketchy characters during my explorations. I've explored over 80 abandoned places so far, and only encountered drug addicts once. They kept to themselves and didn't give me any trouble. Even so, I always bring pepper spray just in case.
DeleteWow, that combination of a non-vandalized, long-abandoned house and a junkyard is an incredible find. Very nice photos and interesting to read. I'd just wish there was a higher resolution available for the pictures, as it's hard to make out the details of some.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jonas. It was really fun to explore. Sorry about the low resolution. I always shrink the pictures down before posting so they will load quicker.
DeleteI really enjoyed those pictures! I was born there in 1980 and lived there until 1992 (except for 83-86). I wish there were more pictures in the trailer park because that was home. Believe me, growing up in a dying ghost town is just as horrible as you'd imagine.
ReplyDelete-Tina
Therealj5girl@yahoo. com
Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed them. It is such a neat town. I bet you have some interesting stories and insights from your time living there. I was tempted to take more pictures of the trailer park, but there were several homes that were still occupied and I wanted to respect the privacy of the people still living there.
DeleteThere is a place across from Desert Center , across the highway, behind the mountains . an old crazy man used to live there by name of Donald Pickel. I know because he was my uncle . the place is probly still there . I was only there a couple times . we lived in Eagle Mtn. My dad worked for Kaiser Steele . he would come down to visit us sometimes or my parents would meet him in desert center when he needed money . my Facebook is Elisha Street if you want to know more. I would like for someone to go up there for me just to see what's there. Thsnkx
DeleteI lived at the eagle mountain pumping plant (MWD) from 86-2000 I was 8 yrs old in 86 and went to school in Eagle Mt the old abandoned High School was made into k-12. The little drive in near the cafe was our hang out. The cafe had the best chicken sandwiches. I can't believe it's all abandoned. So many memories. Thanks for your blog
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your memories! It's great to get an idea of what this place was like back in its heyday.
DeleteI still live in this town and could tell you the history behind most of it well my husband can he has lived here all his life, worked for the family that owns it all.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing that one family owns it all. Do you know if they have any plans for future development?
DeleteI'd love to hear about more of those stories about this town. Does your husband have a blog or page?
DeleteMy niece was Donna Ragsdale she wad married to Steve Ragsdale the son of the founder of desert Center.
DeleteThey were the owners care takeser is S&D trailer park . sorry she is my Cousin not my neice
DeleteThey always have plans for Eagle Mountain, but it's a legal mess. Everything gets dragged out for years by the courts and the EPA because it was originally leased from national park land or something, like almost a hundred years ago.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about Desert Center, though.
This is awesome. We just drove by it and I was curious about the rows of dead palm trees, great exploring!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Peter!
DeleteIve been with a friend who bought some vintage volkswagens from Sidney the land owner of the junk yard very nice guy better to knock next time his house was off 177 rice rd
ReplyDeleteYes what a place to grow up.The two story house was our friends grandmother house which their family own Desert Center.My family live in the area from 1967 at Eagle Mountain (Kaiser steel Mining)12 miles from DC.Then we lived at the trailer Park (S&D trailer park)1975 to 85.last row of the park which a palm tree I planted in 1882 still Marks the spot.The town became a ghost Town but the people who gave it life is not dead we have a place on line which we reunite famliy n Friends who once call this area home.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting pictures and info.I’m curious on where you found info on Steve Ragsdale, the Desert Center founder,
ReplyDeleteThanks
Steve Ragsdale
P.S. Like steve, my kin are also from Arkansas/ Missouri
Lived in green acre trailer park in 1968. 6th grade at the school in desert center booming there if can call it then.
ReplyDeleteI stayed with my grandparents in a mobile home in the summer of 1968 and 7 years old, my mom left my father in Oklahoma and stayed with her sister in Indio. That summer I witnessed in the late afternoon a small prop plane doing loop to loops in the sky. At the peak of the loop it would shut the engine and nose dive down maybe 500 est. from the ground and then restart the engine and go up again. This went on for about 5 or 10 minutes est. The last loop down the small planes engine this time did not start I lost sight and heard a loud crash no explosion. I told my grandmother and when my grandfather Bill Floyd who drove a CAT at the mine him and me went to the site. My mom and us kids went back to Okla. To this day I still don't know what happened, I'm sure someone could share what happened who lived there back then. I am still a little traumatized when I recall this. I thought Eagle Mountain still a town.
ReplyDeleteFascinating, I've always wondered about the town each time I drive from CA to AZ
ReplyDeleteWhat would cause people to just leave without most or none of their belongings? It's odd they would leave prescriptions or a car behind.
ReplyDeleteI spent the early 80’s in Desert Center. I went to school and was friends with Stanly Ragsdale, grandson of Steve Ragsdale. I went to the school up at Eagle Mountain Kindergaten and 1st Grade. My teachers name was Mrs Moody. A few of my fellow classmates besides Stanly were Carolina Hogan, Alton (can’t remember his last name) and Gary Rineheart. We went to the baptist church on Kaiser Rd, north of Lake Tamrisk. The season 2 episode 1 of Airwolf was filmed in Desert Center and livened up the town for a couple of weeks. We moved away in 1985. I’ve been back 1 time to see the place and visit with friends but that was is 1995. I would love to take atleast one more trip back to refresh the memories of my childhood.
ReplyDelete