Midland is a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

Riverside County Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Uni ...

in the southeastern part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It is adjacent to the

Little Maria Mountains The Little Maria Mountains are located in southeastern California in the United States. The range lies in a northwest-southeasterly direction east of the Palen Mountains and west of the Big Maria Mountains. The mountain range is approximately 15 m ...

and located about northwest of Blythe. It is accessible from Blythe in the south via Lovekin Boulevard and Midland Road, and from

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

in the north via Midland Road. From 1925 to the 1960s, Midland was a company town owned by the U.S. Gypsum Co. The company had mined vast amounts of

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywal ...

found in the area. Midland was also the site of a large plant that produced

wallboard Drywall (also called plasterboard, dry lining, wallboard, sheet rock, gypsum board, buster board, custard board, and gypsum panel) is a panel made of calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum), with or without additives, typically extruded between thic ...

and plasterboard. For some time, there was a three part railroad between the quarry and the crusher, the last part being a narrow gauge line running few miles. The town's water was shipped from Blythe by rail. At its peak, the town had a population of approximately 1,000. As the character of the gypsum found in the area was considered too heavy as the years went on, company activity in Midland subsided and then ended in 1966. Many winter scenes in Hollywood films during the 20th century utilized faux snow that originated from Midland. In the 1960s (before the town's demise), a gypsum mine west of the plant and abandoned in 1948 was converted into the largest

fallout shelter A fallout shelter is an enclosed space specially designated to protect occupants from radioactive debris or fallout resulting from a nuclear explosion. Many such shelters were constructed as civil defense measures during the Cold War. During ...

in the county. Most of the buildings of Midland were torn down, and today only foundations remain. In 1970, a 150,000 gallon water tank from Midland was moved on skids by tractor to the new Mesa Ranch Mobile Home Park and a housing site in northwest Blythe.Front page picture in the ''Palo Verde Valley Times'', December 10, 1970.

References

* *
Midland – in ''Desert Fever'', 1981
*

References

Further reading