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42<br />
September 20<strong>18</strong><br />
Scarcely 90-miles south of Las <strong>Vegas</strong> on<br />
Interstate 15 is Baker, California. Merely<br />
a dot on the map, Baker boasts the World Tallest Thermometer and<br />
during the hot summer months the newly repaired thermometer often<br />
reads more than 120-degrees.<br />
The Baker community was founded in 1908 and named for R.C.<br />
Baker, the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad president. Baker was later<br />
established and developed by Ralph Jacobus Fairbanks in 1929.<br />
A prospector and pioneer, Fairbanks founded several Death Valley<br />
towns, including Fairbanks Springs and Shoshone. Baker is in a region<br />
of San Bernardino County that has been mined longer than any other<br />
portion of the county.<br />
Located in the Southern California area known as the Mojave Desert,<br />
plant and animal life suitably offset the geological features. The land is<br />
plentiful with sand dunes, mesas, extinct volcanoes, mountain ranges<br />
and valleys dotted with the largest Joshua tree forest in the world. The<br />
Mojave National Preserve protects countless significant rock art sites<br />
giving evidence of early Native American use of the land.<br />
Protected also, are sites from early mining, ranching, homesteading<br />
and railroading The area has a long cultural history as a travel corridor<br />
across the harsh and foreboding desert.<br />
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, railroads were built<br />
in this historic transportation corridor for desert crossing. Today, the<br />
Mojave Desert is bounded to the north and south by two major interstate<br />
highways, I-15 and I-40.<br />
The Nevada–<br />
California state line<br />
makes up most of the<br />
eastern boundary. For<br />
motorists, Baker offers<br />
gasoline and other<br />
services in the vast and<br />
remote desert along<br />
Interstate-15 between<br />
Las <strong>Vegas</strong> and Barstow.<br />
Here the world’s tallest<br />
thermometer is not only<br />
a reminder of the current<br />
outdoor temperature but<br />
serves as reminder of<br />
the tough people that<br />
opened the perilous<br />
harsh and hostile<br />
western edge before there<br />
were air conditioned<br />
automobiles.<br />
Baker’s World Tallest<br />
Thermometer<br />
By: Kathy Manney / Around Our World<br />
Kathy Manney enjoys visiting interesting places and being an<br />
Adventure Diva. Her “Must See” travel journeys continue - always<br />
with enthusiasm.<br />
“Listening to The <strong>Vegas</strong> <strong>Voice</strong>”<br />
Tuesdays 10-11AM<br />
And anytime on:<br />
Thevegasvoice.net<br />
Singer<br />
Emmy award winning<br />
actress /producer<br />
Kira Reed Lorsch<br />
Elisa Fiorillo<br />
Tuesdays 10-11AM<br />
Your Hosts:<br />
Rich Natole<br />
and<br />
Jon Lindquist<br />
“The Announcer”<br />
From TV’s WALKER TEXAS RANGER<br />
Clarence Gilvard<br />
Gary Anthony<br />
Sheree Wilson<br />
Elayne Boosler<br />
Optometrist<br />
Author, Former Pro<br />
Wrestler<br />
Ted DiBiase<br />
Dr. Shannon Chandler<br />
“Listening to The <strong>Vegas</strong> <strong>Voice</strong>”<br />
And anytime on:<br />
Thevegasvoice.net<br />
Entertainer<br />
Comedian<br />
Your Hosts:<br />
Rich Natole<br />
and<br />
Jon Lindquist<br />
“The Announcer”<br />
43
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