Vidal, California is a small

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 ...

located in southeastern

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 ...

, in

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, ...

on U.S. Route 95, north of

Blythe, California Blythe is a city in eastern Riverside County, California, United States. It is in the Palo Verde Valley of the Lower Colorado River Valley region, an agricultural area and part of the Colorado Desert along the Colorado River, approximately ...

, United States and south of Needles. The town is west of the townsite of

Earp, California Earp, California is an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County in the Sonoran Desert close to the California/ Arizona state line at the Colorado River in Parker Valley. The town, originally named Drennan in 1910, was renamed Earp in 1 ...

and west of

Parker, Arizona Parker ( Mojave 'Amat Kuhwely, formerly 'Ahwe Nyava) is the county seat of La Paz County, Arizona, United States, on the Colorado River in Parker Valley. The population was 3,083 at the 2010 census. History Founded in 1908, the town was named ...

on State Highway 62. The community, which is two miles (3 km) north of the Riverside County line, lies at an elevation of above sea level. Vidal is from the city (and county seat) of

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cen ...

, making it the second-farthest town in the county from the county seat behind Earp.

Wyatt Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman and gambler in the American West, including Dodge City, Deadwood, and Tombstone. Earp took part in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which la ...

spent the last winters of his life in Vidal, working claims of gold and copper he found nearby; the aforementioned townsite of Earp is located in and around those claims. During the late 1960s, Vidal was home to Solar Lodge, a

secret society A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence ...

located four miles (6 km) south of the town center. The Lodge owned all of the businesses in the town during their time there, but left the area after several members were arrested for child abuse, in a case that became famous as " The Boy in the Box". On February 5, 1979, a Santa Fe Railway train derailed 17 cars in the middle out of 74 cars two miles (3.2 km) west of Vidal. According to the railroad, five tankers ruptured. The spillage of residual

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), b ...

was disposed of through burning, and the railroad intended to send pumps to the site. The ZIP code for both Vidal and nearby Vidal Junction is 92280 and the

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 porti ...

Weather

Average temperatures in Vidal range in January from to , and July average temperatures range from to a high of . The highest temperature ever recorded in Vidal was in 1905, when the temperature reached . The lowest recorded temperature was in 1911, when a low of was recorded. The part of the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Ariz ...

where Vidal is located receives very little rainfall in a normal year. On average, Vidal Junction receives just of precipitation per year, with July and January averaging just 0.27 and , respectively.

Structures in Vidal

These are images of the structures in the ghost town of Vidal.

External links

Wyatt Earp's Cottage
- Vidal, California

References

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Local Weather
Communities in the Lower Colorado River Valley Populated places in the Sonoran Desert Unincorporated communities in San Bernardino County, California Unincorporated communities in California {{SanBernardinoCountyCA-geo-stub