Slab City
Slab City or The Slabs (located at 33°15′32″N 115°27′59″W / 33.25889°N 115.46639°W) is a camp in the Colorado Desert in southeastern California, used by Recreational Vehicle owners and squatters from across North America. It takes its name from the concrete slabs and pylons that remain from the abandoned World War II Marine barracks Camp Dunlap there. A group of servicemen remained after the base closed, and the place has been inhabited ever since, although the number of residents has declined since the mid 1980s.
Several thousand campers, many of them retired, use the site during the winter months. These "snowbirds" stay only for the winter, before migrating north in the spring to cooler climes. The temperatures during the summer are unforgiving; nonetheless, there is a group of around 150 permanent residents who live in the Slabs all year round. Most of these "Slabbers" subsist on government checks (SSI and Social Security) and have been driven to the Slabs through poverty; some of the "slabbers" also have a strong desire for freedom from government.[citation needed]
The site is both decommissioned and uncontrolled, and there is no charge for parking. The camp has no electricity, no running water or other services. Many campers use generators or solar panels to generate electricity. Supplies can be purchased in nearby Niland, California, located about three miles (5 km) to the southwest of Slab City.
Located just east of State Route 111, the entrance to Slab City is easily recognized by the colorful Salvation Mountain, a small hill approximately three stories high which is entirely covered in acrylic paint, concrete and adobe and festooned with Bible verses. It is an ongoing project of over two decades by permanent resident Leonard Knight.
In popular culture
Slab City was featured in the book Into the Wild and also in the 2007 movie of the same name. The video for "Fourth of July" by Shooter Jennings is partially set at Slab City.
It was featured in the radio documentary program Hearing Voices episode "Small Town" the week of November 11, 2009. The segment's synopsis is "This town in California never did exist, though it’s full of folk who live there: an unofficial RV Park and home to the homeless thrives in culture and community.[1]"
Slab City is also the focus in the documentary photographic series The Last Free Place, by British based photographer Leon Diaper, which examines the community of squatting campers who dwell in the area.
Slab City also figures in Sue Grafton's mystery novel, G is for Gumshoe, first published in 1990, about private investigator Kinsey Millhone.
A fictional version of Slab City is featured in Hal Duncan's fantasy novel Vellum: The Book of All Hours, first published in 2005.
In the cable reality show Art Race (broadcast on Halogen TV), one of the artists attempts to stay in Slab City to sell his art and leaves soon after dark with the show's crew because of fears for his safety.
References
- ^ "HV076- Small Town : HearVox". hearingvoices.com. http://hearingvoices.com/news/2009/11/hv076-small-town. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
External links
- Slab City - Official Website
- Tioga George's "Vagabonders" webpage
- Desert Dutch's Slab City webpage
- 2004 New York Times article, login may be required.
- Aerial photograph (Google Maps)
- Topographic map (TopoQuest)
- Aerial photograph (Terraserver)
Categories: Unincorporated communities in California | Shanty towns | Imperial County, California | Colorado Desert | Populated places in the Colorado Desert
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