Mojave County was a proposal in 1988 that would have split the northern and eastern 90% of
San Bernardino County, currently the largest
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
in area in the contiguous United States, from the more urbanized southwestern 10%.
Proponents of the measure argued that their region was far too removed from the county seat at
San Bernardino and that they were distinct in many ways from the
Inland Empire
The Inland Empire (IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County to the west. It includes the cities o ...
. Areas included in the proposed county would have included the cities of
Victorville,
Barstow,
Big Bear
Big Bear, also known as ( cr, ᒥᐢᑕᐦᐃᒪᐢᑿ; – 17 January 1888[Mistahimaskwa](_blank)
...
,
Yucca Valley,
Twentynine Palms
Twentynine Palms (also known as 29 Palms) is a city in San Bernardino County, California. Twentynine Palms serves as one of the entry points to Joshua Tree National Park.
History
Twentynine Palms was named for the palm trees found there in ...
and the isolated community of
Needles along the Colorado River, a community closer to
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
than to its county seat.
The proposal would have left the remainder of San Bernardino County confined the area of the lower southwestern, more populous part of the county.
The measure was ultimately defeated.
Community members in Victorville claim that the county retaliated by dumping used tires city block long and 10 feet high
References
Mojave Desert
Proposed counties of the United States
History of San Bernardino County, California
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