Zzyzx
| Zzyzx | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Location in California
|
|||
| Basic data | |||
| Foundation : | 1944 | ||
| State : | United States | ||
| State : | California | ||
| County : | San Bernardino County | ||
| Coordinates : | 35 ° 9 ′ N , 116 ° 6 ′ W | ||
| Time zone : | PST (UTC-8) | ||
| Height : | 290 m | ||
| Postal code : | 92309 | ||
| GNIS ID : | 1662336 | ||
| Website : | www.nps.gov/moja/planyourvisit/zzyzx.htm | ||
Zzyzx [ ˈzaɪzɪks ] is an unincorporated area in San Bernardino County , California and the seat of the Desert Research Center of California State University . Attached is a hydrological institute called Zzyzx Spring. The names were endorsed by the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1984 and are the last in the alphabet of all confirmed place names in America.
history
The name Zzyzx was invented by the impostor Curtis Howe Springer , who posed as a doctor and Methodist pastor. In 1944 he and his fiancée acquired mining rights for the area in the middle of the Mojave Desert . Although the land was still federally owned, he built a complex of spa, hotel, church, radio station and airfield until the late 1960s. The funds for this came mainly from donations from his supporters, who trusted in his quackery healing methods. The illegal use of the site was finally stopped in 1974. Together with a conviction for fraud, this meant the end of Springer's success story.
The property is currently under the administration of the National Park Service and has been used by California State University since 1976 as an institute for the study of desert ecology . It represents the connection between Mojave National Preserve and Death Valley National Park .
The word Zzyzx has been used as a brand name by a number of people and companies. The US-American metal band Stone Sour released a ballad called Zzyzx Rd. In 2007 , and there is also an album by the Norwegian band Zeromancer called Zzyzx. The German bicycle brand Corratec uses the word Zzyzx as a name for bicycle components such as seat posts, handlebars, etc. In 2006, Zyzzyx Road was one of the most unsuccessful films at the box office of all time.
literature
- Thomas Schüpping: Zzyzx . Distance Verlag, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-95476-071-8 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Desert Studies Center (English)
- ↑ Cecilia Rasmussen: Zzyzx: An Unlikely Home of Hucksterism and Miracle Cures . LA Times , June 16, 2002 (English)
- ↑ Ross Eckler: ZZYZX ( Memento of 26 April 2006 at the Internet Archive ). Word Ways , 1996 (English)
- ↑ Zzyxz on the website of the National Park Service (English)
- ↑ Discography of Stone Sour on Discogs
- ↑ Discography of Zeromancer on Discogs
- ↑ Once Zzyzx and back , review in FAZ from April 2, 2015, page R4, online at buecher.de