It’s far from glamorous, but an eclectic group of people calls Slab City home. Built on an abandoned military base in the middle of California’s Sonoran Desert, Slab City doesn’t have many modern amenities.
No power lines or pipes carry electricity or freshwater to the city. Residents have to sort out their own system for disposing of sewage or trash. But to those who call the community home, Slab City offers something even more important than comfort: freedom.
Slab City was born when the U.S. Marine Corps abandoned Fort Dunlap, a military installation near the town of Niland.
They dismantled the buildings in 1956 but left behind the concrete slabs that served as their foundations. Though California officially regained control over the land, it was too remote and inhospitable for the state to really concern itself with.
But when employees from a chemical company working near Niland found the slabs, they decided it was the perfect spot to erect a temporary settlement close to their job site.
The small trailers they brought with them became the beginnings of the new community of Slab City. Over the next few decades, people from outside the area were drawn to the improvised city.
To this day, the residents remain a motley collection of the poor, snowbirds, and people looking for a way to live off the grid. In this forgotten place, there are no property taxes or utility bills, which makes it ideal for people trying to stretch their pensions or Social Security
checks.
Even today, Slab City’s population swells to over 4,000 during the cooler winter months as people come down from as far away as Canada to take advantage of the warmer temperatures and cheap living. When the summer heat sets in and temperatures rise to 120 degrees, most return to their homes, leaving a smaller permanent population of about 150.
Becoming a resident of Slab City is an informal process. You simply show up, find a patch of land that no one else has claimed, and set up a trailer, shack, yurt, or truck. But living in the community requires a certain degree of sel
f-reliance.
The nearest public amenities – including drinkable water – are in Niland a few miles away. Residents share a single communal shower fed by a nearby hot spring. Most people in the community rely on their own technical expertise to handle the rest.
If you want electricity, you have to set up a collection of solar panels, generators, and batteries. Or you can hire “Solar Mike,” a long time Slabber who has been selling and installing solar panels out of his trailer since the 1980s. Though police from Niland occasionally patrol the area and will respond to emergency calls, the community largely polices itself.
Living in Slab City requires adhering to a certain code of behavior. While drug use is common, residents say that it’s usually confined to certain well-known areas of the camp. The most common type of crime is theft.
Typically, there aren’t reports of vigilante violence in response to crime, but the community will shun people who are suspected of misbehavior.
Slab City is as close to a self-governing commune as you’re likely to find in the U.S. The most common problem people in the community report is simple boredom, which makes sense given that they’re living in the middle of the desert. Some find solace in the simple life.
Others have banded together to provide some escape from the monotony. Slab City has its own community and event center named The Range, which hosts a yearly prom.
There’s also an internet cafe that basically amounts to a tent with a wireless router inside. But residents can use the connection to download entertainment.
The community sometimes comes together to watch the latest episode of Game of Thrones the night it premieres. If you’d like to visit Slab City, there are a number of residents who offer lodging for rent at relatively low prices. But prepare yourself for a bit of a trek, as the community sits 200 miles east of Los Angeles.
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