Description

California City is located in the Southern California High Desert at the northern end of the Antelope Valley. Ridgecrest lies to the north, the Tehachapi Mountains to the west, Palmdale and Lancaster to the south. Located a short 120 miles from Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean; only 180 miles to Nevada's Stateline, you are never more than a two-hour drive from the mountains, beaches, cultural centers and museums, and all the attractions that make Southern California one of the world's most popular destinations. The California City limits run east to Highway 395, Highway 58 to the south and Highway 14 to the west. California City is the third largest city in California encompassing 204 square miles or 130,200 acres at an elevation of approximately 2,400 feet (average) and the eleventh largest city in the nation in area. The climate is dry and mild in all four seasons, which is typical for the California high desert. Low humidity and lots of sunshine provides a pleasant, year-round climate which allows everyone to enjoy the outdoors.

History

The area where California City now exists was largely uninhabited prior to the last half century. Padre Francisco Garcia, a Franciscan missionary, camped at Castle Butte in what is now California City in 1776 during his exploration of Arizona and southern California. In the late 19th century, the Twenty Mule Team Trail, which carried loads of borax to the railhead in Mojave from mines in the east, ran through the California City area. California City had its origins in 1958 when real estate developer and sociology professor Nat Mendelsohn purchased 80,000 acres of Mojave Desert land with the aim of master-planning California's next great city. He designed a model city, which he hoped would one day rival Los Angeles, around a Central Park with a 26-acre manmade lake. California City was incorporated in 1965.