Essex, Cal - Route 66

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Essex, Cal - Route 66

Essex dates back to 1883, like most of the almost forgotten traveler's rests and small communities that dot the Mojave desert along Route 66. Lewis Kingman, a locating engineer for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, named the water stops along the railroad route. He must have been a fan of alphabetically things, or maybe was directed to name the water stops in such a manner. So we have Amboy, Bristol, Cadiz, Danby, Essex, Fenner, Goffs, Homer, Ibis, Java, Khartoum and so on. During the early years of the small railroad stop, the primary purpose was to supply the steam engines with water.

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Cadiz Summit, Cal - Route 66

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Cadiz Summit, Cal - Route 66

Cadiz Summit dates back to 1883; it was named by Lewis Kingman, who was a locating engineer for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. It was one of a series of railroad stations built across the Mojave Desert (Amboy, Bristol, Cadiz, Danby, Esses, Fenner, Goffs, Homer, Ibis, Java, khartoum and so on). Back during those early years, Cadiz existed to supply water to the trains. And years later, when Route 66 was constructed, Cadiz served a similar purpose.

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The Poste Homestead Site

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The Poste Homestead Site

Mining and freighting activity has been going on in this part of the Mojave since at least the 1880s and possibly earlier. Freighters traveling from the railhead at Amboy to the Dale mining district often stopped at a place known as Lyon's Well, aka Freighters Dale. It was one of the few, if not the only, reliable source of water between those two points.

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Rt 66 - Siberia, Cal

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Rt 66 - Siberia, Cal

You don't need a visa to go to Siberia. At least, the one in California. You will need to use some mapping skills and your imagination though, to get there.

Siberia was originally founded as a water stop and rail siding for the Sante Fe Railroad, which later also became a motorist stop for travelers along Route 66. It was located between Bagdad and Ludlow and must have had some years of minor prosperity. Cafes and tourist camps operated here during the 1930s and 1940s, but things never quite took off.

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