Be sure to bring your full thermos of coffee when you take this road...
The name Zzyzx, pronounced /zai ziks/ (pronounced as "Zeye-zix" with the accent on the first syllable, rhyming with "Isaac's", not "physics"), was given to the area in 1944 by Curtis Howe Springer, claiming it to be the last word in the English language. Springer made up the word's pronunciation. He established the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa at the spot, which was federal land that he had no permission to use. He used Zzyzx until 1974, when he was arrested by the United States Marshals for misuse of the land as well as alleged violations of food and drug laws, and the land was confiscated by the government.
Since 1976, the Bureau of Land Management has allowed California State University to manage the land in and around Zzyzx. A consortium of CSU campuses use it as their Desert Studies Center.
Since 1976, the Bureau of Land Management has allowed California State University to manage the land in and around Zzyzx. A consortium of CSU campuses use it as their Desert Studies Center.
10 comments:
I have always meant to take that turn :-),wonder if there is a bench out there?
Do they have any good roadside parks? I might just need one.
I have to figure out how to pronounce that!
there is a desert studies center out there...government land
I knew there was a name for this road. I was too sleepy to read the sign when I passed it a while back. I just followed the arrow and hoped for the best.
Annon - forget the bench.. where's the hammock? :-D
:P Fuzzbox - I'm afraid it is as desolate as some parts of Texas... no parks around for miles and miles. Just pick a rock, any rock.
Autumn, when you figure it out, let me know! :-D
Annonymous, thanks for the info. By the way, Zzyzx, California is a settlement in San Bernardino County, California, formerly the site of the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa and now the site of the Desert Studies Center. The area is also the location of Lake Tunedae, one of the refuge habitats of the endangered Mohave tui chub.
Zzyzx Road is a 4.5 mile / 7.2 km long, part paved and part dirt, rural collector road in the Mojave Desert. It runs from Interstate 15 generally south to the Zzyzx settlement.
The location and the road are often believed to be the lexicographically greatest (alphabetically last, at least in English alphabetical order) exemplars of their respective classes, recognized locations and recognized street names, in the world. However, a street named Zzz exists in Bangs, Texas, and a street named Zzzz exists in Kearney, Nebraska.
Jeanne - do they have those kinds of roads in Sweden?
Trace - HI!!! What's kicking? Home from school already? :-)
Have a great weekend yourself!
I have a feeling this road leads to a nap and a half... it is just begging for a snooze :-)
Phew, thanks, Terry, been trying to twist my tongue around that all day!
Good morniiiiiing!!
Too loud? I know, I know - it's Monday and as such a guaranteed wish-I-were-under-the-covers sort of a day :-) Nice strong coffee, that'll do the trick. Happy Monday, xoxo
Ummm, Autumn, did you say something? (Pulls head out from under down comforter...)
Hurry - PUT THE COFFEE ON...!
Looks like Area 51
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