Searles Valley is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP) in the

Searles Valley Searles Valley is a valley in the northern Mojave Desert of California, with the northern half in Inyo County and the southern half in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Searles Valley is located between the Argus Range to the wes ...

of the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

, in northwestern

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County (), officially the County of San Bernardino, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 2,181, ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Geography

Searles Valley includes the

unincorporated communities An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

of Argus, Pioneer Point, Searles Valley (town), and

Trona Trona (trisodium hydrogendicarbonate dihydrate, also sodium sesquicarbonate dihydrate, Na2CO3•2NaHCO3•3H2O) is a non-marine evaporite mineral. It is mined as the primary source of sodium carbonate in the United States, where it has replaced ...

. Searles Valley is located at (35.765181, -117.382803). Searles Valley CDP is at the western edge of

Searles Lake Searles Lake is an endorheic dry lake in the Searles Valley of the Mojave Desert, in northwestern San Bernardino County, California. The lake in the past was also called Slate Range Lake and Borax Lake. The mining community of Trona is on i ...

, a dry lakebed in the lowest part of the

. Searles Valley CDP is about 170 miles northeast of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, on State Route 178. It is southwest of

Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the Highest temperature recorded on Earth, hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the ...

and the

Panamint Range The Panamint Range is a short rugged fault-block mountain range in the northern Mojave Desert, within Death Valley National Park in Inyo County, eastern California. Dr. Darwin French is credited as applying the term Panamint in 1860 during his s ...

. Ridgecrest and China Lake are to the west. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, Searles Valley has a total area of 27.2 km² (10.5 mi²), all land. The population was 1,739 at the 2010 census. The ZIP code is 93562 and the

area code 760 Area code 760 is a California telephone area code that was split from area code 619 on March 22, 1997. Area code 442 is an overlay of 760 that became effective on November 21, 2009. It encompasses much of the southeastern and southernmost porti ...

Natural history

The

is an

endorheic An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

dry lake A dry lake bed, also known as a playa, is a basin or depression that formerly contained a standing surface water body, which disappears when evaporation processes exceeds recharge. If the floor of a dry lake is covered by deposits of alkaline c ...

formed by the evaporation of lakes during the late

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

period. It contains rich deposits of chemicals, including

borax Borax is a salt (ionic compound), a hydrated borate of sodium, with chemical formula often written . It is a colorless crystalline solid, that dissolves in water to make a basic solution. It is commonly available in powder or granular form, ...

and

rock salt Halite (), commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride ( Na Cl). Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pi ...

. Searles Valley is known for its isolation and desolation,David Kelly
Stark Beauty, Solitude, Squalor and Sulfur -- Trona Has It All
''The Los Angeles Times'', October 4, 2006, ''Accessed December 28, 2006''. as well as the nearby

Trona Pinnacles The Trona Pinnacles are an unusual geological feature in the California Desert National Conservation Area. The landscape consists of more than 500 tufa spires (porous rock formed as a deposit when springs interact with other bodies of water), som ...

a few miles to the south. The Trona Pinnacles are an unusual landscape of more than 500

tufa Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of water in unheated rivers or lakes. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less porous) carbonate deposits, which are known as travertine. ...

spires, some as high as 140 feet, rising from the bed of the Searles Lake basin. The name Trona is derived from the mineral

trona Trona (trisodium hydrogendicarbonate dihydrate, also sodium sesquicarbonate dihydrate, Na2CO3•2NaHCO3•3H2O) is a non-marine evaporite mineral. It is mined as the primary source of sodium carbonate in the United States, where it has replaced ...

, abundant in the lake. The local school plays on a dirt football field because the high level of salt kills grass.

2019 earthquakes

In July 2019, Searles Valley was impacted by a series of earthquakes, the principal events (with magnitudes of 6.4, 5.4, and 7.1 ) occurring from 12 to 18 kilometers west on the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. The earthquake series started at 10:02 AM on July 4 with a Mw 4.0 earthquake 4 kilometers southwest of Searles Valley. At 10:33 AM a second and much stronger earthquake struck – a 6.4 magnitude quake 12 kilometers southwest of Searles Valley. The earthquake was felt throughout the area and Southern California, including

, and in Nevada, including

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 ...

. The earthquake was 10.5 kilometers deep. Over 100 aftershocks impacted Searles Valley and nearby

Ridgecrest, California Ridgecrest is a city in Kern County, California, United States, along U.S. Route 395 in California, U.S. Route 395 in the Indian Wells Valley in northeastern Kern County, adjacent to the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake (NAWS, or China Lak ...

. This second quake was followed by an even larger 7.1 magnitude quake, subsequently designated the main quake in the series, on Friday, July 5, 2019, at approximately 8:18 PM. Approximately 6:36 PM on July 22, 2019, the valley received a 3.9 magnitude quake.

Government

In the state legislature Searles Valley is located in California's 16th State Senate district, represented by

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Roy Ashburn Roy Arthur Ashburn (born March 21, 1954) is an American politician from Kern County, California. A Republican, he served as a California State Senator from 2002 to 2010 representing the 18th district. He previously served three terms in the ...

, and in California's 33rd State Assembly district, represented by Republican Tim Donnelly. In the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, Searles Valley is in .

Demographics

2010

The

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

reported that Searles Valley had a population of 1,739. The population density was . The racial makeup of Searles Valley was 1,405 (80.8%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

(72.3% Non-Hispanic White), 69 (4.0%)

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 56 (3.2%) Native American, 16 (0.9%)

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 6 (0.3%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 83 (4.8%) from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 104 (6.0%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 293 persons (16.8%). The Census reported that 1,739 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 722 households, out of which 215 (29.8%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 309 (42.8%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 92 (12.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 52 (7.2%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 48 (6.6%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 3 (0.4%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 223 households (30.9%) were made up of individuals, and 80 (11.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41. There were 453

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

(62.7% of all households); the average family size was 3.01. The population was spread out, with 436 people (25.1%) under the age of 18, 171 people (9.8%) aged 18 to 24, 342 people (19.7%) aged 25 to 44, 515 people (29.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 275 people (15.8%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.4 males. There were 961 housing units at an average density of , of which 439 (60.8%) were owner-occupied, and 283 (39.2%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 8.4%. 1,041 people (59.9% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 698 people (40.1%) lived in rental housing units. According to the 2010 United States Census, Searles Valley had a median household income of $32,448, with 21.7% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

2000

As of the

2000 United States Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...

of 2000, there were 1,885 people, 738 households, and 495 families residing in the CDP. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 61.9/km² (160.5/mi²). There were 1,051 housing units at an average density of 34.5/km² (89.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 86.3%

, 1.5%

, 2.4% Native American, 0.7%

, 0.4%

, 5.0% from

, and 3.7% from two or more races.

of any race were 16.2% of the population. There were 738 households, out of which 33.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.9% were non-families. 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.16. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 30.9% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.1 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $35,833, and the median income for a family was $37,143. Males had a median income of $44,397 versus $35,625 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the CDP was $16,861. About 18.2% of families and 21.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 33.0% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over.

Gallery

Image:01-2007-Trona-in-Trona.jpg, Piles of lime dust sit just south of Trona on the Trona Railway. Image:Our Churches sign in Trona, California.jpg, Entrance to Trona. Image:01-2007-Trona-02.jpg, Searles Valley from the Searles Valley rest stop. Image:01-2007-SearlesLake-duststorm.jpg, A dust storm forms over the dry Searles Lake bed, taken from the Searles Valley rest stop. Image:01-2007-The-Trona-T.jpg, A Mountain Monogram "T" sits on the hills above Trona.

References

External links

The Searles Valley Historical Society
{{authority control Searles Valley Census-designated places in San Bernardino County, California Company towns in California Populated places in the Mojave Desert 1913 establishments in California Populated places established in 1913 Census-designated places in California