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'''Slab City''', also called '''The Slabs''', is an unincorporated, largely [[Snowbird (person)|snowbird]] |
'''Slab City''', also called '''The Slabs''', is an unincorporated, off-the-grid squatter community<ref>{{Cite web|last=Barragan|first=Bianca|date=2015-03-13|title=Off-the-Grid Desert Squatter Town Considers Going Legit|url=https://la.curbed.com/2015/3/13/9980908/slab-city-going-legit|access-date=2020-10-14|website=Curbed LA|language=en}}</ref> consisting largely of [[Snowbird (person)|snowbird]]<nowiki/>s in [[Sonoran Desert]] located in the [[Salton Trough]] in [[Imperial County, California|Imperial County]], [[California]]. It took its name from [[concrete]] slabs that remained from the abandoned [[World War II]] [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]] [[barracks]] of [[Camp Dunlap]].<ref name=":7" /> |
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==History== |
==History== |
Revision as of 00:28, 14 October 2020
Slab City | |
---|---|
Location | Sonoran Desert, California (4 miles northeast of Niland) |
Coordinates | 33°15′32″N 115°27′59″W / 33.25889°N 115.46639°W |
Website | web |
Slab City, also called The Slabs, is an unincorporated, off-the-grid squatter community[1] consisting largely of snowbirds in Sonoran Desert located in the Salton Trough in Imperial County, California. It took its name from concrete slabs that remained from the abandoned World War II Marine Corps barracks of Camp Dunlap.[2]
History
Prior to the United States' official entry into World War II, the United States Marine Corps made the decision to site a training ground for field and anti-aircraft artillery units in an area accessible by aircraft taking off from carriers near San Diego.[3] To create the training base, 631.345 acres (255.496 ha) were obtained. The government announced that the base was to be named after Brigadier General Robert Henry Dunlap, U.S.M.C. After construction of Camp Dunlap was completed, it was commissioned on October 15, of 1942. The camp had fully functioning buildings, water, roads, and sewage collections. The base was used for three years during the war.[3] By 1949, military operations at Camp Dunlap had been greatly reduced, but a skeleton crew continued on until the base was dismantled. By 1956, all buildings had been dismantled, but the slabs remained.[3]
The area that is now Slab City was the artillery training range[4] for the Camp. It was first settled by a few veterans who had worked at the Marine base. Current residents refer to themselves as Slabbies while tourists are called Normies.[5]
As of October 6, 1961, a quitclaim deed conveying the land to the State of California was issued by the Department of Defense as it was determined the land was no longer required.[6] The deed did not contain any restrictions, recapture clauses or restoration provisions.[3] All of the former Camp Dunlap buildings had been removed. The remaining slabs were not proposed for removal. Later, legislation required that revenue generated from this property go to the California State Teachers Retirement System.
Leonard Knight, an early settler who created the Salvation Mountain art installation, was featured in Sean Penn's Into the Wild, released in 2007.[7] An obituary of Knight stated that he "spent almost 30 years building the colorful mountain ... Built out of adobe and donated paint, Knight worked on the mountain all day, every day. He even slept at the mountain's base in the back of a pick-up truck, with no electricity or running water".[7]
An article in Smithsonian magazine in October 2018 referred to the community as a "Squatters’ Paradise" which locals consider to be "one of America's last free places".[8] The article said of the population: "There are clearly people there who don’t want to be found, so there’s something about disappearing, and the desert offers that kind of opportunity".[2]
Geography
Slab City is widespread, roughly 640 acres of public land.[9] Located near the east shore of the Salton Sea, Slab City is 100 miles (161 km) northeast of San Diego and 169 miles (272 km) southeast of Los Angeles. It is about 50 miles from Mexico.[10] Slab City is used by recreational vehicle owners and squatters from across North America.[11][12]
Climate
This area has a large amount of sunshine year round due to its stable descending air and high pressure. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Niland has a hot desert climate, BWh on climate maps.[13]
Climate data for Niland (130 feet below sea level) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °F (°C) | 89 (32) |
97 (36) |
104 (40) |
108 (42) |
116 (47) |
121 (49) |
122 (50) |
120 (49) |
121 (49) |
111 (44) |
100 (38) |
93 (34) |
122 (50) |
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 71 (22) |
74 (23) |
80 (27) |
86 (30) |
95 (35) |
103 (39) |
107 (42) |
107 (42) |
102 (39) |
91 (33) |
79 (26) |
70 (21) |
89 (32) |
Daily mean °F (°C) | 56 (13) |
59 (15) |
64.5 (18.1) |
70 (21) |
77.5 (25.3) |
85 (29) |
91 (33) |
92 (33) |
86 (30) |
75 (24) |
63.5 (17.5) |
55 (13) |
72.9 (22.7) |
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 41 (5) |
44 (7) |
49 (9) |
54 (12) |
60 (16) |
67 (19) |
75 (24) |
77 (25) |
70 (21) |
59 (15) |
48 (9) |
40 (4) |
57 (14) |
Record low °F (°C) | 19 (−7) |
25 (−4) |
28 (−2) |
35 (2) |
40 (4) |
27 (−3) |
55 (13) |
59 (15) |
50 (10) |
30 (−1) |
11 (−12) |
22 (−6) |
11 (−12) |
Average precipitation inches (mm) | 0.48 (12) |
0.55 (14) |
0.33 (8.4) |
0.05 (1.3) |
0.02 (0.51) |
0.00 (0.00) |
0.08 (2.0) |
0.21 (5.3) |
0.16 (4.1) |
0.25 (6.4) |
0.19 (4.8) |
0.48 (12) |
2.8 (70.81) |
Source: Weather Channel[14] |
Demographics
The Washington Post reported in 2020 that population is seasonal and balloons up to about 4,000 during the winter by some estimate and dwindles down to around 150 in the summer. Since the 1950s, Slab City has drawn variety of people such as anarchists, artists, impoverished and outcasts.[15] A 1990 Chicago Tribune articles reports a journalist who visited the camp guessed winter time residents were senior citizens over 60 years old.[16] It is a "popular winter destination for transients."[9]
Economy
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune's Fred Dickey, the most common industry among the permanent residents is "probably" SSI checks.[17]
The community site is both decommissioned and uncontrolled.[6] Many residents use generators or solar panels to generate electricity. The closest body of civilization with proper law enforcement is approximately four miles (6.4 km) southwest of Slab City in Niland where the residents often go to do basic shopping. As a result, the site is described by its inhabitants and news outlets like Vice News as a miniature de facto enclave of anarchy. The 2019 report described East Jesus as a "sustainable, habitable, constantly changing art exhibit in Slab City ... there are no utilities, no ties to modern life. Some of the [art] work here is truly fascinating and is made from many different and unusual materials."[18][self-published source?]
Arts and Culture
Tourism
A journalist who visited this area filed this report in October 2019:[18]
"Slab City is part artistic commune, part snowbird getaway, and part refuge for druggies and squatters ... No property taxes, no utilities or other normal civic dues exist here.
She also found a free lending library and The Range, an open-air nightclub with "lights, amplifiers, speakers, and a stage ... Beaten up chairs and couches are scattered around for seating" where talent shows were being held on Saturday nights. "There was no sewage or waste disposal being offered, leading to a very large amount of garbage and filth". There is no "food, water, healthcare, law enforcement available here" and the single communal shower serves all residents, up to 4,000 in winter. The so-called Salvation Mountain was a series of painted rocks, stacked three stories high, with bible verses and art work.[18] The settlement also has an internet cafe and a hostel.[19]
Much of tourist destinations, including the Salvation Mountain has been shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.[15]
Salvation Mountain
Located just east of California State Route 111, the entrance to Slab City is easily recognized by the colorful Salvation Mountain, which is a small hill approximately three stories tall and entirely covered in latex paint, concrete and adobe, and festooned with Bible verses. It was a project built over two decades by Leonard Knight.[20] The work is a 50ft-tall piece of religious folk art "an unofficial centrepiece for the community and [cementing] the area’s anarchic creative identity", according to a 2020 report.[21]
In 2002, Salvation Mountain was named a Congressional National-Art Treasure.[22][23]
The current Salvation Mountain is actually the second construction to occupy the site;[24] Knight began the first Salvation Mountain in 1984, using highly unstable construction methods that allowed the mountain to collapse in 1989.[20] Knight was not discouraged; he rebuilt the structure using better materials and engineering, including adobe mixed with straw.[25]
Before his death on February 10, 2014, Knight had been living in a nursing home; he was able to visit Salvation Mountain for the last time in May 2013;[7] the visit was recorded by KPBS (TV).[26]
East Jesus
East Jesus is an experimental, sustainable and habitable art installation located in the Slab City area. There is no religious connotation in the name East Jesus – it is a colloquialism for a place in the middle of nowhere beyond the edge of service availability; the off-grid facility operates with no municipal utilities.[27] In early 2007, Charlie Russell left his job in the technology industry, packed all his belongings into a shipping container and sent it to a trash-strewn field where he began to surround his two art cars with sculptures that would become the foundation works of East Jesus. The Chasterus Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit formed after his death in 2011, has since guided the curation and expansion of East Jesus.[28]
It was Russell, often called Container Charlie, who renamed his settlement site East Jesus. He died in May 2011.[29]
Information published in 2014 said that there was a solar power system with a battery bank made up of expired batteries disposed by telecom companies.[30] Photography, multimedia art, performance art, writing and music are integral parts of a larger fabric, which their artists collectively are continually weaving. East Jesus artwork is living, growing and ever-changing, and embraces the thousands of varied voices from contributing artists who have added to the installation. Each day, residential staff was giving dozens of free tours, and hosted visiting artists and overnight guests.[31]
A 2019 article described East Jesus as an "art museum" with "eccentric art installations made of repurposed garbage ... that’s open to the public year-round, featuring a wall of broken TVs covered with pithy messages, a car adorned with baby doll heads, and other oddities".[8]
A January 2020 report stated that the residents' camp (a "maze of trailers") had a caretaker by that time, Pyro Iskaki, and that the commune was equipped with a "battery bank, a backup diesel generator, composting toilets, a water heater, a hand-washing station, a library, a pantry, and a recycling area". The attempt to create "something more livable" had led to some criticism of East Jesus, according to Iskaki: "There are some people that believe we’re gentrifying the Slabs."[8]
The Range
The Range is an open-air nightclub complete with stage, lights, amplifiers, and speakers, with tattered couches and old chairs for seating. Every Saturday night at around dusk, locals and visitors meet for a talent show that features permanent resident musicians and anyone else who wants to get up on stage and perform. The venue is run by old-time resident William Ammon, known as Builder Bill. Ammon's wife, Robin Ammon, collected old prom dresses for people to wear. These prom dresses are used when they put on a prom because many people who live there have not been able to actually go to a prom.[32][18]
The community
Thousands of campers and RV owners, most retired, use the site during the winter months. The "snowbirds" stay only for the winter before migrating north in spring to cooler climates. The temperatures during summer are as high as 120 °F (49 °C); nonetheless, there is a group of around 150 permanent residents who live in "The Slabs" year round. Some of these "Slabbers" derive their living from government programs and have been driven to "The Slabs" by poverty. Others have moved to "The Slabs" to learn how to live off the grid and be left alone. Still others have moved there to stretch their retirement income.
A January 2020 report stated that Slab City was started by "transient, freedom-seeking people" who are now "all living off the grid in trailers, tents, lean-tos, and broken-down school buses in a remote patch of the Sonoran Desert". The report added that the community "has more than a dozen individual neighborhoods ... small camps of people with their own particular rules and culture". In an interview, well-known resident "Spyder" summarized the appeal of Slab City. "In a big city ... they have too many laws ... out here nobody tells me what to do".[8]
Crime
Crystal meth is fairly common and accounts for much of the crime in slab city.[17] In 2015, the New York Times reported that police usually cause for police response to Slab City is over camping boundary disputes, sometimes burglary and that methamphetamine use is a recurrent problem.[33]
Government
Dirt roads are graded by the Imperial County and it is regularly patrolled by the Imperial County Sheriff's Office as well as the Border Patrol agents on the look out for illegal immigrants. It is about 50 miles from Mexico.[12] Fire service is dispatched from the nearby Niland.[12]
Future plans
The land is owned by the State of California.[5]
In 2015, William "Builder Bill" Ammon was heading up and helping to organize this effort.[34] California has not yet decided if they are going to be selling the land, but the Lands Commission is thinking about starting the process of getting the land appraised, and, if needed, allow for cleanup due to military waste from when it was previously a base for the U.S.M.C.[34] A May 2020 article confirmed that the state was hoping to sell the land. "A sale could potentially go to energy companies ... Many residents worry that a deal could leave them without a community or place to live, as the lawless Slab City has become the last resort for so many".[35]
See also
References
- ^ Barragan, Bianca (2015-03-13). "Off-the-Grid Desert Squatter Town Considers Going Legit". Curbed LA. Retrieved 2020-10-14.
- ^ a b Nalewicki, Jennifer. "Inside Slab City, a Squatters' Paradise in Southern California". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
- ^ a b c d "Historic California Posts: Camp Dunlap". www.militarymuseum.org. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
- ^ Welcome to East Jesus, CA
- ^ a b Hillard, Gloria (January 24, 2012). "Slab City: An Escape For The Down And Out". All Things considered NPR. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b "Slab City: An Escape For The Down And Out". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
- ^ a b c Carone, Angela. "Leonard Knight, Creator of Salvation Mountain, Dies At 82". KPBS Public Media. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
- ^ a b c d Ulrich, Amanda (January 21, 2020). "As Slab City grows, the community of outcasts, squatters, and desert dwellers grapples with the cost of its unique freedoms". Roadtrippers. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b "Photographing Slab City, California's off-grid drifter community". The Independent. 2020-07-27. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
- ^ Rogers, Paul (January 25, 2018). "MEET THE FORMER ANGELENOS LIVING IN A RENT-FREE, RAMSHACKLE DESERT "TOWN": SLAB CITY". LA Weekly.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Perry, Tony (December 18, 2011). "Slab City, a trailer park utopia, thrives in remote desert". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
- ^ a b c Motlagh, Jason (February 3, 2012). "Slab City, Here We Come: Living Life Off the Grid in California's Badlands". Time. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
- ^ Climate Summary for Niland, California
- ^ "Niland, CA Monthly Weather Forecast". Weather Channel. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ^ a b Rapa, Patrick (June 8, 2020). "Fear of the pandemic reaches California's Slab City, an off-the-grid desert community". Washington Post. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Tribune, William S. Graves, Special to The (March 18, 1990). "Life among the Slabs". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b Dickey, Fred (January 6, 2012). "A man named Quokka finds a home in Slab City". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c d WOODRUFF, TEEUWYNN (October 3, 2019). "Visiting the Slabs: Slab City California". wander wisdom. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Anderson, Ian (2020-01-07). Moon Southern California Road Trips: Drives along the Beaches, Mountains, and Deserts with the Best Stops along the Way. Avalon Publishing. ISBN 978-1-64049-128-1.
- ^ a b BROWN, RICHARD (February 10, 2014). "Leonard Knight of Salvation Mountain fame dies at 82". Imperial Valley Press Online. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Watling, Eve (2020-07-27). "Photographing Slab City, California's off-grid drifter community". The Independent. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "The atheist at Salvation Mountain". theweek.com. 2015-05-07. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
- ^ "Salvation Mountain: The man, the mountain, the tourist attraction | Bartell's Backroads". abc10.com. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
- ^ "History of Salvation Mountain". www.salvationmountain.us. Retrieved 2018-05-01.
- ^ Patterson, Sara M. (2016-02-15). Middle of Nowhere: Religion, Art, and Pop Culture at Salvation Mountain. UNM Press. ISBN 978-0-8263-5631-4.
- ^ Leonard Knight Returns to Salvation Mountain, May 31, 2013
- ^ Vera, Marco (2014-12-03). "Off the Grid Enlightenment and Spirit at East Jesus". KCET. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
- ^ Booker, Christopher; Rothman, Mori (March 3, 2019). "Artists fill the void left by California's dying Salton Sea". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
- ^ Newell, Ruth (March 17, 2005). "Welcome to East Jesus, CA". San Diego Reader. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "6 Reasons You're Picturing the Post-Apocalypse Wrong". Cracked.com. Retrieved 2015-11-11.
- ^ Bastow, Clem (September 25, 2014). "Here's What It's Like to Live in a Sustainable Art Installation That's Being Slowly Swallowed by the Desert". Junkee. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
- ^ Carone, Angela. "Will Slab City Remain The Last Free Place In America?". KPBS Public Media. Retrieved 2018-05-07.
- ^ Eckholm, Erik (2015-03-11). "Talk of a Sale Fills a Hippie Haven With Bad Vibes (Published 2015)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
- ^ a b "Talk of a Sale Fills a Hippie Haven With Bad Vibes". The New York Times. 2015-03-11. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-05-07.
- ^ "Slab City Is An Off-Grid Desert City, And Its Residents Claim It's The Last Free Place In America". Ranker. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
External links
- East Jesus
- Salvation Mountain
- Slab City footage and interviews by Sherman George and Greg Durbin, University of California in San Diego Library Digital Collections
- Slab City Stories
- Down and Out Escape to 'Slab' in California Desert, NPR Around the Nation, January 24, 2012
- 2012 Time Magazine article.
- 2004 New York Times article, login may be required.
- 2003 UK Guardian article.
- Howser, Huell (January 8, 1997). "Slab City (806)". California's Gold. Chapman University Huell Howser Archives.
- 2020 Photo-essay from The Guardian