Zzyzx, California
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Image:Zzyzxrd.350px.jpg Image:LakeTunedae02-15-2005.JPG Image:LakeTunedae02-2005.JPG
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.
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History
Soda Springs, a natural spring, has long seen human activity. The area was a prehistoric quarry site and projectile points and rock art can be found in the area. The Mojave Road ran past the spring, as did the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad. Remnants of a wagon road stop and railroad artifacts are readily seen. Evaporative salt mining and mill sites can be found here as well.
The name Zzyzx, pronounced /Template:IPA/ (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. 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.
Lexicography
Word Ways magazine verified the source of the lexicography as an undated San Bernardino County map published by the Automobile Club of Southern California. The magazine characterized Zzyzx Springs as "a hydrologic feature and a privately owned spa catering to the senior citizen, about 8.5 mi. (13.7 km) south of Baker on the western edge of Soda Dry Lake, off the abandoned right-of-way of the old Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad."
Zzyzx was approved as a place name by the United States Board on Geographic Names on June 14, 1984. As is the case with the road, Zzyzx, California is the USBGN's lexicographically greatest place name.
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.
Literary references
- Michael Petracca's novel Captain Zzyzx takes its name from Zzyzx Road: the book's title is also the name of a rhythm and blues band that the protagonist, Harmon Nails III, performs in. In the book, the musician Nails saw the road sign while driving on I-15, was compelled to pull off the highway to drive down Zzyzx Road, and swore that the next band he played in would be called Captain Zzyzx.
- Michael Connelly's novel The Narrows featured Zzyzx prominently.
- In the upcoming Stone Sour album, there is a song called Zzyzx Road.
See also
- Desert Studies Center
- Curtis Howe Springer for more information about the health spa
- Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad
- Zzyzx (disambiguation and other uses)
- Xyzzy in Colossal Cave Adventure
External links and references
- USGS GNIS entries for Zzyzx, Zzyzx Airstrip, and Zzyzx Spring
- Zzyzx photo tour and information
- Word Ways article and the main source of information for this article
- Ecological sites along U.S. Interstate 15 Small photo of road sign
- "The Metamorphosis of Zzyzx" from the Cal State Fullerton Titan Magazine site, with information about and history of the Desert Studies Center
- Zzyzx Large photo of sign accompanied by extract from mystery novelist Michael Connelly's novel, The Narrows