Ivanpah, California

Ivanpah is in the Mojave National Preserve in San Bernardino County, California. There are several residences in the area, but no real village.[1]

Ivanpah
Populated place
View of Ivanpah, with the Ivanpah Mountains in the distance
Ivanpah
Location within the state of California
Coordinates: 35°20′26″N 115°18′38″W
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CountySan Bernardino
Elevation
3,520 ft (1,070 m)
Time zoneUTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
  Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)
GNIS feature ID243939[1]

Ivanpah is located on the bajada below the northeast side of the New York Mountains overlooking the broad Ivanpah Valley. The Ivanpah Mountains lie across the valley to the northwest.[2]

Ivanpah is located at the crossing of Ivanpah Road and the Union Pacific Railroad, which was the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad until 1921 when it was bought out by Union Pacific. There was once a general store located here. It burned mysteriously in the early morning of 7 September 1944, killing the couple, Mr. and Mrs. William F. Pearce, both 40, who ran it. A Union Pacific engineer who passed through at 1:20 a.m. reported to Deputy Coroner Harry Trehearne at Nipton that the store lights were on and a car was parked outside. When he reached Nipton ten minutes later, he looked back and saw the store on fire. Railroad authorities told him to return and render aid. He did so and found the car gone, the building burned, and the bodies inside.[3] County Coroner R. E. Williams stated on 20 September that with authorities unable to establish definite evidence of foul play as originally suspected, that he would sign out on the death of the victims “as resulting from fifth and sixth degree burns from a fire of an undetermined origin.” He said that desert officers are still investigating mysterious circumstances surrounding the fatal fire but the foul play theory will be discarded unless there are some unforeseen developments in the case.[4]

The original name for this crossing was Leastalk. The California Eastern Railway crossed the LA&SL railroad at this location. The California Eastern Railway became part of California, Arizona and Santa Fe Railway, which abandoned operations in 1918, with the tracks being pulled up in 1921.

Ivanpah is also the home of the largest thermal solar power facility in the world which opened officially on February 13, 2014. (see Ivanpah Solar Power Facility)

See also

References

  1. "Ivanpah". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
  2. Ivanpah, California—Nevada, 30x60 Minute Topographic Quadrangle, USGS, 1985
  3. Staff, “Open Probe As Two Die In Fire - Desert Couple Perish in Blaze As Store Razed - Theory of Robbery And Murder Sifted In Ivanpah Probe”, The San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, Friday 8 September 1944, Volume 51, page 11.
  4. Staff, “Desert Death Mystery Fades”, The San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, Thursday 21 September 1944, Volume 51, page 15.



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