Yermo (
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
for "wilderness")
is an
unincorporated community
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 ...
in the Mojave Desert in
San Bernardino County, California
San Bernardino County (), officially the County of San Bernardino, is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the ...
. It is east of
Barstow on
Interstate 15
Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexico–United States border, Mexican border i ...
, just south of the
Calico Mountains. Its population was an estimated 1,750 in 2009.
Founded in 1902 and originally named Otis, Yermo is situated at a division point of the
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
line.
A
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
was established three years later with William J. Flavin serving as Yermo's first
postmaster
A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...
.
[ It later developed around serving motorists traveling the Arrowhead Trail (later ]U.S. Route 91
U.S. Route 91 or U.S. Highway 91 (US-91) is a north–south United States highway running from Brigham City, Utah, to Idaho Falls, Idaho, in the U.S. states of Idaho and Utah. Despite the "1" as the last digit in the number, US-91 is no lon ...
), which ran through the community.
Today, Yermo is governed by an elected five-member board of directors comprising the Community Services District authorized by the County of San Bernardino. The board, which meets monthly, oversees the community's volunteer fire department
A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond ...
, the Yermo/Calico VFD, as well as its street lighting, parks and water system. Yermo's ZIP Code is 92398, and it is in telephone area codes 442 and 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 portion ...
. Its USPS branch provides post office boxes to local residents and businesses; there is no letter-carrier service.
Yermo hosts the storage and industrial annex of the Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow
Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow is a United States Marine Corps supply and maintenance installation located in the Mojave Desert east of Barstow, in San Bernardino County, Southern California.
Its mission is to rebuild and repair ground-comb ...
.
Economy
Businesses
When Interstate 15
Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexico–United States border, Mexican border i ...
opened in 1968, Yermo was immediately bypassed by traffic traveling to and from Las Vegas, Nevada. As a result, 90 percent of its local businesses were required to close. During its heyday, Yermo had 27 gas stations with mechanics, seven bars, two grocery stores, a hardware store, a pizza shop, four real estate offices, three motels, a thrift store, several restaurants, roadside camping sites and two parks. In 2009, it had one grocery/general store, one bar, one thrift store, three restaurants, four gas stations, one park, and one motel to the south. The fast-food restaurant chain Del Taco
Del Taco Restaurants, Inc. is an American fast food restaurant chain which specializes in American-style Mexican cuisine as well as American foods such as burgers, fries, and shakes. Del Taco is led by CEO John D. Cappasola, Jr., and is headquart ...
was founded in Yermo in 1964; the original structure remains active as a local fast food restaurant, The Burger Den.
Yermo once had a California agriculture inspection station for traffic heading south on Interstate 15. It relocated in 2018 to just north of Mountain Pass
A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...
, between Yates Well Road and Nipton Road.
Tourism
In the mid-20th century, the Yermo Chamber of Commerce styled the community as the "Gateway to the Calicos", referring to its location about south of the Calico Mountains and the historic Calico Ghost Town
Calico is a ghost town and former mining town in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Calico Mountains of the Mojave Desert region of Southern California, it was founded in 1881 as a silver mining town, and was later c ...
. At the time, Yermo and Barstow were campaigning to establish a state park at Calico, which was an active silver mining town from the early 1880s until the turn of the 20th century. In 1952, entrepreneur Walter Knott
Walter Marvin Knott (December 11, 1889 – December 3, 1981) was an American farmer who created the Knott's Berry Farm amusement park in California, introduced the Boysenberry, and made Knott's Berry Farm boysenberry preserves.
Early life
On De ...
, whose uncle John King was once Calico's sheriff, and who worked at the town as a carpenter in 1915, purchased Calico and restored it. He later deeded it to the 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, ...
, which operates the site as a historical county park and a popular tourist attraction of the U.S. Southwest.
Other establishments
Schools
The Silver Valley Unified School District
Silver Valley Unified School District is located in the High Desert of Southern California, between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The district covers an area of approximately , equivalent in size to the combined states of Rhode Island and Delawar ...
(SVUSD) is the education authority in the Yermo area. It operates K-12 schools in the communities of Yermo, Daggett and Newberry Springs, and at the U.S. Army National Training Center at Ft. Irwin.
Churches
In 2009 Yermo had three active churches, one Baptist and two non-denominational/fundamentalist.
Climate
According to the Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
system, Yermo has a semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...
, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps with long, very hot summers, sunny winters with cool nights and dry conditions year round.Climate Summary for Yermo, California
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References
External links
Yermo Community Services District
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yermo, California
Populated places in the Mojave Desert
Mining communities in California
Unincorporated communities in San Bernardino County, California
Unincorporated communities in California