FADED DREAMS-

GHOST TOWNS Around a GHOST SEA

 

A Guide to the Place Names, Ghost Towns, Fading Communities and

Other Interesting Sites surrounding the Salton Sea in Imperial and

Riverside Counties, California

 

 

The SALTON SEA is located with its surface level, 227 feet BELOW mean sea level.  This extremely saline, shallow (max depth 51'), inland lake/sea sits at the bottom of the Salton Sink, straddling the Riverside/Imperial County line in southeastern California.  It was formed between 1905 and 1907 when heavy flooding along the Colorado River caused the river to break through its banks at the site of an unfinished irrigation canal.  It quickly eroded canals and sand berms, flowing down the Alamo and New Rivers towards the sub-sea level sink.  By the time the rampaging river was diverted back into its banks and the flooding stopped, the new sea had become the largest lake wholly located inside California. 

 

Over the years not much was done with the huge lake, but in the 1920s two enterprising gentlemen named Gus Eilers and John Goldthwait established a small resort along the northeastern shore and instituted powerboat races….

           

COMING SOON!!!

 

In this soon to be completed guide, historical vignettes and locations are given for over 50 locations ranging from railroad sidings to military posts, and from dead marinas to moribund lakeside communities.  Included with the vignettes are a number of photos taken in late 2006 and early 2007 of many of these locations.  This will be the first of the Ghost Town Guru's Guides to contain photos.

 

           

Keep watching this page for more news…

 

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Page uploaded August 10, 2007

Page updated August 10, 2007