Soda Springs Historic District: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Mojave National Preserve, National Park Service
Chapell G and Babalis T. 2006. Soda Springs Historic District: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Mojave National Preserve, National Park Service. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 725129. NPS Pacific West Regional Office. Pacific West Regional Office/CLI Database
The Soda Springs Historic District, also known as Zzyzx Mineral Springs, is an approximately 402‑acre historic district located 12 miles from Baker, California on the western edge of Soda Lake, a dry lakebed in the east Mojave Desert. Development within the districts spanned a number of historic periods, including military operations in the 1850s, salt and soda extraction industries in the 1920s, and Curtis Howe Springer’s Zzyzx Mineral Springs resort. The district contains a number of contributing features from the historic periods, including the water features of Lake Tuendae and West Pond, distinctive athel/palm nurseries, and a number of handmade buildings of concrete blocks made on site. The first period of significance extends from 1907 to 1914, when two salt and soda mining operations were active at Soda Springs and on adjacent Soda Dry Lake. During this period the site was locally significant as an industrial complex under criterion A (association with historic events). The second period extends from 1944 to 1960, when a health resort was developed here by a Christian radio evangelist. During this time the site possessed local significance under criterion A for its association with broader regional patterns in religion and health. While this resort remained active until the eviction of its founder in 1974, its significance was fully realized by 1960—at the latest—when activity had reached its peak and all physical developments were largely completed.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Chapell, Gordon; Babalis, Timothy
- Date of Issue
- 2006-06-19
- Publisher
- NPS Pacific West Regional Office
- Units
- MOJA , PWR
- Keywords
- Curtis Howe Springer, Education, Entertainment, Exploration of the West, Health Resort, historic site, Industrial, Labratory, Rail-Related, Recreation, Religion, Salt Mining, Settlement, Social History, Soda Mining, Transportation, Westward Expansion, Zzyz Mineral Springs
- Subjects
- CRIS-CL: 725129: Soda Springs Historic District