Back in 1933 this small settlement, now known as Chiriaco Summit, opened. It opened the same day as, and alongside, a new highway, US 60, that established a new route across the desert from Indio, California to Arizona. This place was known then as Shaver Summit. It was renamed years later after the Chiriaco family who started it and still runs it 90 years later.
Water was scarce. The owner and his son laid roughly two miles of pipe from the springs up in the canyon behind the settlement. This was a few years before it was designated as Joshua Tree National Monument and is now Joshua Tree National Park. This photo is the original tank they piped water to.
desert topographics 