Lone Pine, California
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Lone Pine is a
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 counte ...
(CDP) in
Inyo County, California Inyo County () is a County (United States), county in the Eastern California, eastern central part of the U.S. state of California, located between the Sierra Nevada and the state of Nevada. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the po ...
, United States, located south-southeast of
Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
. The population was 2,035 at the 2010 census, up from 1,655 at the 2000 census. The town is located in the
Owens Valley Owens Valley (Mono language (California), Mono: ''Payahǖǖnadǖ'', meaning "place of flowing water") is an arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States. It is located to the east of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra ...
, near the Alabama Hills and Mount Whitney, between the eastern peaks of the
Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...
to the west and the
Inyo Mountains The Inyo Mountains are a short mountain range east of the Sierra Nevada in eastern California in the United States. The range separates the Owens Valley to the west from Saline Valley to the east, extending for approximately south-southeast f ...
to the east. The local hospital, Southern Inyo Hospital, offers standby emergency services. The town is named after a solitary pine tree that once existed at the mouth of Lone Pine Canyon. On March 26, 1872, the very large Lone Pine earthquake destroyed most of the town and killed 27 of its 250 to 300 residents.


History

The
Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three languages do not form a single subgroup and th ...
Indians inhabited the
Owens Valley Owens Valley (Mono language (California), Mono: ''Payahǖǖnadǖ'', meaning "place of flowing water") is an arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States. It is located to the east of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra ...
area from prehistoric times. These early inhabitants are known to have established trading routes which extended to the Pacific Central Coast, delivering materials originating in the Owens Valley to such tribes as the Chumash. A cabin was built here during the winter of 1861–62. A settlement developed over the following two years. The Lone Pine post office opened in 1870. On March 26, 1872, at 2:30 am, Lone Pine experienced a violent
earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
that destroyed most of the town. At the time, the town consisted of 80 buildings made of mud and adobe; only 20 structures were left standing. As a result of the quake, which formed Diaz Lake, a total of 26 people lost their lives. A mass grave located just north of town commemorates the site of the main fault. One of the few remaining structures pre-dating the earthquake is the -thick "Old Adobe Wall" located in the alley behind the Lone Star Bistro, a coffee house. During the 1870s, Lone Pine was an important supply town for several nearby mining communities, including Kearsarge, Cerro Gordo, Keeler, Swansea, and Darwin. The Cerro Gordo mine high in the Inyo Mountains was one of the most productive silver mines in California. The silver was carried in ore buckets on a strong cable to Keeler, and then transported northwest to smelter ovens at Swansea. To supply the necessary building materials and fuel for these operations, a sawmill was constructed near Horseshoe Meadows by Colonel Sherman Stevens that produced wood for the smelters and the mines. The wood was moved by flume to the valley, where it was burned in adobe kilns to make charcoal, which was then transported by steamships across Owens Lake to the smelters at Swansea, about south of Lone Pine. Railroads played a major role in the development of Lone Pine and the Owens Valley. In 1883, the Carson and Colorado Railway line was constructed from Belleville, Nevada, across the White Mountains to Benton, and then down into the Owens Valley where it ended in Keeler. The arrival of the C&C rail line, with its engine "The Slim Princess", and the stagecoach in Keeler were a major economic boost for the area. Twice a week, passengers arrived on the evening train, spent the night at the Lake View Hotel (later renamed the Hotel Keeler), and then took the stage the following morning to Mojave. A short line to the north connected with the Virginia and Truckee Railroad line at Mound House, Nevada. In 1920, the history of Lone Pine was dramatically altered when a movie production company came to the Alabama Hills to make the silent film '' The Round-Up''. Other companies soon discovered the scenic location, and in the coming decades, over 400 films, 100 television episodes, and countless commercials have used Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills as a film location. Notable films shot here in the 1920s and 1930s include '' Riders of the Purple Sage'' (1925) with Tom Mix, ''
The Enchanted Hill ''The Enchanted Hill'' is a 1926 American silent film, silent Western (genre), Western film directed by Irvin Willat and written by James Shelley Hamilton and Peter B. Kyne. The film stars Jack Holt (actor), Jack Holt, Florence Vidor, Noah Beery ...
'' (1926) with Jack Holt, '' Somewhere in Sonora'' (1927) with Ken Maynard, '' Blue Steel'' (1934) with John Wayne, '' Hop-Along Cassidy'' (1935) with William Boyd, '' The Charge of the Light Brigade'' (1936) with Errol Flynn, '' Oh, Susanna!'' (1936) with Gene Autry, '' Rhythm on the Range'' (1936) with Bing Crosby, '' The Cowboy and the Lady'' (1938) with Gary Cooper, '' Under Western Stars'' (1938) with Roy Rogers, and '' Gunga Din'' (1939) with Cary Grant. In the coming decades, Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills continued to be used as the setting for Western films, including '' West of the Pecos'' (1945) with Robert Mitchum, '' Thunder Mountain'' (1947) with Tim Holt, '' The Gunfighter'' (1950) with Gregory Peck, '' The Nevadan'' (1950) with Randolph Scott, '' Bad Day at Black Rock'' (1955) with Spencer Tracy, '' Hell Bent for Leather'' (1960) with Audie Murphy, '' How the West Was Won'' (1962) with James Stewart, '' Nevada Smith'' (1966) with Steve McQueen, '' Joe Kidd'' (1972) with Clint Eastwood, '' Maverick'' (1994) with Mel Gibson, and ''
The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in a ...
'' (2013) with Johnny Depp. Through the years, non-Western films also used the unique landscape of the area, including Alfred Hitchcock's '' Saboteur'' (1942) with Robert Cummings, '' Samson and Delilah'' (1949) with Hedy Lamarr, '' Star Trek V: The Final Frontier'' (1989) with William Shatner, '' Tremors'' (1990) with Kevin Bacon, ''
The Postman ''The Postman'' is a Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic dystopian science fiction novel by David Brin. It is about a man wandering the desolate Oregon countryside who finds a United States Postal Service uniform, which h ...
'' (1997) with Kevin Costner, and ''
Gladiator A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...
'' (2000) with Russell Crowe. The most important movie filmed in and around Lone Pine is director
Raoul Walsh Raoul Walsh (born Albert Edward Walsh; March 11, 1887December 31, 1980) was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent cinema actor George Walsh. He wa ...
's ''High Sierra'' (1941), starring
Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart ( ; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American actor. His performances in classic Hollywood cinema made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Bogart ...
as Roy Earle in the role that moved Bogart from respected supporting player to leading man. Cast and crew lodged in Lone Pine, and Walsh shot various scenes in and around Lone Pine. For the film's mountain chase scenes, Walsh took everyone to nearby Mt. Whitney, where pack mules lugged camera equipment up the mountainside: "filming began just outside Lone Pine ... on August 5, 1940. ... On a slope at the side of Mt. Whitney, ... a group of twenty men from the studio worked for four days to clear a path so that mountain-trained mules, packing cameras and other equipment, could get up to the shooting area. ... Bogart had to run three miles up a mountainside for two days ... Walsh ordered all the big boulders removed from the path of ogart'sfinal fall, but the little ones remained, and Bogart complained about that plenty ... Bogie especially did not want to trek up that mountain. This was the shoot on which Walsh gave him the nickname 'Bogey the Beefer'".
John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. He rec ...
wrote the screenplay, and Ida Lupino co-starred. Following the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. At the tim ...
, on December 7, 1941, President Roosevelt signed an
executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of the ...
that required people of Japanese ancestry living along the Pacific coast to be placed into relocation camps. One of these camps,
Manzanar Manzanar is the site of one of ten American concentration camps, where more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II from March 1942 to November 1945. Although it had over 10,000 inmates at its peak, it was one ...
, was built north of Lone Pine.


Geography

Lone Pine is situated in the
Owens Valley Owens Valley (Mono language (California), Mono: ''Payahǖǖnadǖ'', meaning "place of flowing water") is an arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States. It is located to the east of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra ...
with the picturesque Alabama Hills lying to the west. Their unique appearance has attracted many film companies over the years. The hills were named in 1862 by Southern sympathisers, commemorating the victories of the Confederate ship CSS ''Alabama''.Your Pass to Play, pamphlet published by the Lone Pine Chamber of Commerce 2007 As the crow flies, Lone Pine is due east of
Fresno Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...
. However, there is no road crossing the
Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...
to provide access from Lone Pine to Fresno. As a result, the closest accessible large city is
Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...
, nearly away. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and (0.94%) is water.


Climate

Lone Pine and most of the Owens Valley have a cold
desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
(
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
: ''BWk'') characterised by hot summers and cold winters. January temperatures range from the middle fifties °F (12–15 °C) to the upper twenties °F (-4–-1 °C) and July temperatures range from the upper nineties °F (35–37 °C) to the lower sixties °F (15–18 °C). Low humidity is prevalent, with average annual precipitation averaging less than . Snowfall varies greatly from year-to-year, averaging only annually. The nearest official
National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...
co-operative weather station is in
Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
where records date back to 1893. The National Weather Service has added an automated weather station in Lone Pine, which provides observations on its website, weather.gov.


Demographics


2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Lone Pine had a population of 2,014. The population density was . The racial makeup of Lone Pine was 1,026 (50.9%)
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 15 (0.7%)
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 256 (12.7%) Native American, 20 (1.0%) Asian, 1 (0.0%)
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...
, 452 (22.4%) from other races, and 244 (12.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 774 persons (38.4%). The census reported that 97.9% of the population lived in households and 2.1% were institutionalized. There were 862 households, out of which 225 (26.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 347 (40.3%) were married-couple households, 47 (5.5%) were cohabiting couple households, 226 (26.2%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 242 (28.1%) had a male householder with no partner present. 325 households (37.7%) were one person, and 163 (18.9%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.29. There were 479
families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...
(55.6% of all households). The age distribution was 421 people (20.9%) under the age of 18, 102 people (5.1%) aged 18 to 24, 456 people (22.6%) aged 25 to 44, 524 people (26.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 511 people (25.4%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 46.5years. For every 100 females, there were 102.6 males. There were 997 housing units at an average density of , of which 862 (86.5%) were occupied. Of these, 483 (56.0%) were owner-occupied, and 379 (44.0%) were occupied by renters. In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $49,063, and the
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
was $45,061. About 17.2% of families and 15.0% of the population were below the poverty line.


2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Lone Pine had a population of 2,035. The population density was . The racial makeup of Lone Pine was 1,334 (65.6%)
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 6 (0.3%)
Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
, 205 (10.1%) Native American, 17 (0.8%) Asian, 1 (0.0%)
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...
, 376 (18.5%) from other races, and 96 (4.7%) from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 694 persons (34.1%). The Census reported that 1,972 people (96.9% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalised group quarters, and 63 (3.1%) were institutionalised. There were 831 households, out of which 254 (30.6%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 374 (45.0%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 95 (11.4%) had a female householder with no husband present, 46 (5.5%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 53 (6.4%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 5 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 276 households (33.2%) were made up of individuals, and 107 (12.9%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37. There were 515
families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...
(62.0% of all households); the average family size was 3.04. The population was spread out, with 492 people (24.2%) under the age of 18, 136 people (6.7%) aged 18 to 24, 442 people (21.7%) aged 25 to 44, 580 people (28.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 385 people (18.9%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.1 males. There were 1,004 housing units at an average density of , of which 831 were occupied, of which 452 (54.4%) were owner-occupied, and 379 (45.6%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 7.1%. 1,030 people (50.6% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 942 people (46.3%) lived in rental housing units.


Lone Pine Indian Reservation

The Lone Pine Indian Reservation is home to Owens Valley
Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three languages do not form a single subgroup and th ...
and
Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ), also known by the endonym Newe, are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the United States with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshon ...
members of the
federally recognized tribe A federally recognized tribe is a Native American tribe recognized by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs as holding a government-to-government relationship with the US federal government. In the United States, the Native American tribe ...
, the Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Lone Pine Community of the Lone Pine Reservation.California Indians and Their Reservations.
''San Diego State University Library and Information Access.'' 2009 (retrieved 8 Dec 2009)
The tribe traditionally lived in sedentary villages in the valley due to the suitable climate and abundant food supply. These people have been living here for several thousands of years. The reservation is along the south side of town on both sides of US395.


Tourism

The town is home to an Interagency Visitor Center at SR136 and US395.''Inyo National Forest, California 1993'', (Salt Lake City, Utah: Forest Service Geometronics Service Center, 1989 (GPO 1994-585-901). Much of the local economy is based on tourism, as the town is between several major tourist destinations, such as Mount Whitney,
Sequoia National Park Sequoia National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in the southern Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and toda ...
,
Kings Canyon National Park Kings Canyon National Park is a national park of the United States in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California. Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, the park was greatly expanded and ren ...
,
Mammoth Mountain Mammoth Mountain is a lava dome complex partially located in the town of Mammoth Lakes, California, in the Inyo National Forest of Madera County, California, Madera and Mono County, California, Mono counties. It is home to a large Mammoth Mounta ...
,
Death Valley National Park Death Valley National Park is a national park of the United States that straddles the California–Nevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada. The park boundaries include Death Valley, the northern section of Panamint Valley, the southern sect ...
, and
Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The p ...
; many motels line the main road through town.


Manzanar National Historic Site

The Manzanar National Historic Site (formerly the Manzanar War Relocation Center), a
Japanese American internment During World War II, the United States forcibly relocated and incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese descent in ten concentration camps operated by the War Relocation Authority (WRA), mostly in the western interior of the country. Abou ...
camp during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, is located on Highway 395 north of Lone Pine and south of
Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
. Manzanar (which means "apple orchard" in Spanish) is the most infamous of the 10 camps in which
Japanese Americans are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian Americans, Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 United States census, 2000 census, they have declined in ...
, both citizens (including natural-born Americans) and resident aliens, were encamped during World War II. Manzanar has been identified as the best preserved of these camps by the United States National Park Service which maintains and is restoring the site as a U.S. National Historic Site.


Sierra Nevada

The
Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...
range and the
Inyo Mountains The Inyo Mountains are a short mountain range east of the Sierra Nevada in eastern California in the United States. The range separates the Owens Valley to the west from Saline Valley to the east, extending for approximately south-southeast f ...
dominate the views from the town.


Film history at Lone Pine

The Lone Pine Film History Museum, supported by Beverly and Jim Rogers, highlights the area's frequent appearances in Hollywood feature films. The Alabama Hills west of town are frequently used as a
filming location A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, instead of or in addition to using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage. In filmmaking, a location is any place where a film crew wi ...
for
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
movies. Since the early years of filmmaking, directors and their production units have used the Lone Pine area to represent the iconic
American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...
. Approaching the 100th anniversary of '' The Roundup'' (1920), the first documented film produced in the area, Lone Pine has played host to hundreds of the industry's best-known directors and actors, among them directors
William Wyler William Wyler (; born Willi Wyler (); July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a German-born American film director and producer. Known for his work in numerous genres over five decades, he received numerous awards and accolades, including three Aca ...
,
John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...
,
George Stevens George Cooper Stevens (December 18, 1904 – March 8, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''A Place in the Sun (1951 film), A Place in the Sun'' (1951) ...
, and
William Wellman William Augustus Wellman (February 29, 1896 – December 9, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and military pilot. He was known for his work in Crime film, crime, Adventure film, adventure, and Action film, a ...
, and actors
John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...
,
Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...
,
Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a Crooner ...
,
Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...
, Barbara Stanwyck, and
Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He is known for his Leading actor, leading man roles in film and television. In a career spanning over seven decades, he has received List of awards and nominations received by ...
. The Whitney Portal road was used in the film '' High Sierra'' (1941) with
Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart ( ; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American actor. His performances in classic Hollywood cinema made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Bogart ...
, which culminated with a shoot-out between Bogart's character and the police, at the foot of Mount Whitney. The classic '' Bad Day at Black Rock'' (1955), starring
Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the ...
, Robert Ryan and Anne Francis, was also filmed in and around the Lone Pine area. Lone Pine is also the location of several scenes in ''
Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the character first appearan ...
'' (2008), depicting Afghanistan, and in the ''
Godzilla is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...
'' (2014) remake, as a temporary military
forward operating base A forward operating base (FOB) is any secured forward operational level military position, commonly a military base, that is used to support strategic goals and tactical objectives. A FOB may contain an airbase, hospital, machine shop, and othe ...
("FOB"). Barbara Stanwyck in accordance with her wishes had her cremated remains and ashes scattered from a helicopter over Lone Pine, California, where she had made some of her western films. The Forum Theater is a theater-cafe that hosts live music, theater, and films at weekends. The Lone Pine Film Festival has been held every year since 1989 to celebrate the rich heritage that filmmakers have brought to the area over the years. The Alabama Hills Recreation Area is directed by the
Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...
for public recreation.


Events

From 1971 through 1981, Lone Pine was the site of the annual Lone Pine International Chess tournament. Winners of the Lone Pine tournament included world champion
Tigran Petrosian Tigran Vardani Petrosian (; ; 17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster and the ninth World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing s ...
, world championship finalist
Viktor Korchnoi Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi (, ; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. He is considered one of the strongest players never to have become World Chess Champion. Bor ...
, and U.S. champions Arthur Bisguier, Walter Browne, and Larry Evans.


Government

In the state legislature, Lone Pine is in , and . Federally, Lone Pine is in .


Transportation

Serving the area with a runway, Lone Pine Airport (FAA identifier: O26) is located approximately one mile (1.6 km) southeast of town at .Lone Pine, California, 7.5-minute quadrangle,
U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on March ...
, 1994.
The community is located on U.S. Route 395, north of State Route 136. Owens Dry Lake is just over six miles (10 km) south of town on US 395. Public transportation is provided by Eastern Sierra Transit Authority


Education

Lone Pine has one high school, Lone Pine High School. It is located at the south end of town along Highway 395. Lo-Inyo elementary school is located at the north end of town, just off 395.


See also

* Inyo National Forest *
Los Angeles Aqueduct The Los Angeles Aqueduct system, comprising the Los Angeles Aqueduct (Owens Valley aqueduct) and the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct, is a water conveyance system, built and operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The Owens Valley ...
* Manzanar, California


References


External links


Lone Pine Chamber of CommerceLone Pine Film History MuseumLone Pine Gem and Mineral Society website
{{authority control Owens Valley Census-designated places in Inyo County, California Census-designated places in California Populated places in the Mojave Desert History of the Mojave Desert region