Baker, California
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Baker is an unincorporated rural community located in San Bernardino County, California, USA. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 914.
Baker was named after R. C. Baker, president of the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, in 1908. [1]
The ZIP Code is 92309 and the community is inside area code 760.
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[edit] Geography
Baker is located at (35.265099, -116.074768).
It is located in the Mojave Desert at the junction of Interstate 15 and SR 127 (Death Valley Road). Its elevation is approximately 930 feet (283.5 m) above sea level, which is much lower than either Barstow or Las Vegas, due to its location in the southern end of the geological depression in which Death Valley is also located. The latitude/longitude of Baker is 35.3N/-116.1W.
Baker originated as a "flag stop" on the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, though tickets had to be purchased at Silver Lake, approximately 9 miles to the north. Nothing remains of the Silver Lake station today.
[edit] Economy
Baker's economy is based primarily on tourism. The town is frequently used as a rest stop by drivers on Interstate Highway 15 between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Baker is approximately 90 miles (144.8 km) southwest of Las Vegas. It is the last town for those traveling on SR 127 north to Death Valley National Park or south to the Mojave National Preserve. Baker can also be reached by Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach. For many years the National Park Service operated a desert information center in Baker. The center was closed in March 2006, and the staff moved to the refurbished railroad depot in Kelso.
The town's most prominent feature is a 134-foot (41m) thermometer, known as the "World's tallest thermometer", visible for miles. Its height commemorates the hottest temperature ever recorded in the United States, 134 °F (56.7 °C), measured in nearby Death Valley in 1913. Summer temperatures in Baker routinely exceed 110 °F (43.3 °C); 2007 saw a record of 125 °F (51.7 °C). It is also the home of the original Bun Boy restaurant - since converted into a Bob's Big Boy, and the "World Famous" Mad Greek Cafe, signs for which festoon the interstate for miles. Across from the Mad Greek Cafe is a store which has sold the most winning tickets in California Lottery history. In recent years Baker has experienced hard times, with casinos just across the Nevada border at Primm and Jean taking much of its motel trade.
Just a few miles to the west along I-15 lies the exit for Zzyzx Road. This dirt road leads to Soda Springs, the site of the health resort established by Curtis Springer in the late 1940s and now the Desert Study Center maintained by California State University.
[edit] Transportation
Thruway Motorcoach has a stop located at a Jack in the Box restaurant and Royal Dutch Shell gas station at 72352 Baker Blvd. (there is more than one Jack in the Box franchise in Baker), and its Amtrak station code is BKR.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Bright, William (1998). 1500 California Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, p. 20. ISBN 0-520-21271-1.
- ^ Amtrak California - Baker. Retrieved on 2007-01-11.
[edit] External links
- Baker, California is at coordinates Coordinates:
- Baker Chamber of Commerce
- A history of Baker
- Pilgrims in the Desert - a book on the history of Baker
- Sandboard Magazine
- Friends of Dumont Dunes
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