Essex, California, San Bernardino County is a ghost town with a rich history tied to the boom and bust cycles of the American West. Situated along the historic Route 66, Essex once thrived as a vibrant travel stopover and a Santa Fe Railroad hub. Below is detailed information about the town.
County: San Bernardino County
Zip Code: 92332
Latitude / Longitude: 34.7256° N, 115.2433° W
Elevation: 1,627 feet (496 meters)
Time Zone: Pacific Time Zone (PT)
Established: 1915
Disestablished: Not officially disestablished, but declined significantly in the late 20th century.
Comments: Essex was founded in 1915 as a station stop on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It became an essential service point with a post office, school, and gas stations, catering to travelers on Route 66. The town’s prosperity was largely tied to the traffic on this iconic highway.
Essex is a small unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, California Ghost Townlifornia. Essex lies on Old National Trails Highway – part of the old Route 66 – just south of Interstate 40 in the Mojave Desert. Essex, a former oasis along historic Route 66 in California, was allegedly founded when a motorist suffered a flat tire only to discover there were no garages for miles. It also lies along the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway.
Remains: Some structures from its heyday still stand, including abandoned homes, the old school building, and remnants of the gas stations. The Essex School is particularly notable as a symbol of the community that once flourished in this desert landscape.
The town of Essex did not receive television until 1977. The signal from Los Angeles, 150 miles away, was too weak, and the signal from Las Vegas, 110 miles away, was blocked by hills. A device called a translator, costing several thousand dollars, could solve this problem, but the town voted against spending the money.
Johnny Carson found the town’s lack of television interesting and invited the entire town’s population (about 50 people at the time) to attend the taping of the March 25, 1977 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He talked to 5 different townspeople about what it was like and whether they missed it. All but one said they preferred it that way.
Shortly after the Tonight Show appearance, executives at Electronics, Missiles, and Communications (Emcee), which makes television transmitters, offered the town a translator at no cost.
Current Status: Essex is considered a ghost town with only a few residents remaining. It is a point of interest for tourists exploring Route 66 and those interested in California’s desert history. Many of the homes and buildings in Essex have completely disappeared, almost 50 of which lie in abandoned, and of what was once a bustling roadside hub, only the post office, California Ghost Townltrans maintenance yard, schoolhouse, and outdoor telephone are still operational.
There are no facilities in town. By 2013, the population had declined to 8-10 people. Essex has only one close neighbor, the equally abandoned Goffs, located to the north, just across I-40.
Remarks: Despite its decline, Essex serves as a poignant reminder of the transformative impact of highways and railroads on rural American communities. Its remains are a tribute to the once-thriving life that desert towns like Essex experienced, driven by the flow of travelers and the promise of the open road.
With an estimated population of just 89 people in 2005 (down from 111 in 2000), Essex is on the verge of becoming one of many ghost towns scattered throughout the Southwestern United States displaced by the creation of Interstate 40. Essex Elementary school (founded 1937), which once served the educational needs of both Essex and its neighbor Goffs, has closed.
A single teacher once taught it. Its location is remote, and even with today’s technological capabilities, Essex lacks many comforts of modern-day life and was unable to receive television service until the end of 1977. Three miles northeast of Essex, just north of Goffs Road, the remains of Camp Essex Army Airfield are still visible. This uniquely configured airfield has two parallel runways and twelve “hardstands,” where aircraft could be parked.
