Plaster City, California is a company town with a large
gypsum
Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...
quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...
and plant owned by
United States Gypsum (USG)
in
Imperial County, California
Imperial County is a county located on the southeast border of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 179,702, ranking as the least populous county in Southern California. The county seat and largest city is ...
. It is located west of
El Centro,
at an elevation of 105 feet (32 m), a two-hour drive south of
Palm Springs
Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...
, or a 90 minute drive east from
San Diego
San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
.
[
The quarry and supporting railroad were started in 1920 by Imperial Valley Gypsum and Oil Corporation founder Samuel Dunnaway, a pharmacist from San Diego,][Plaster City Alcos]
Railfan & Railroad. Access date: 2024-08-22 then acquired by United States Gypsum in 1945. Plaster City is the southern terminus of the last industrial narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...
railroad in the United States. The gauge line runs from another quarry about miles to the northwest, bringing gypsum to the plant. Plaster City is served by the former San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway
The San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway is a short-line American railroad founded in 1932 as the successor to the San Diego and Arizona Railway (SD&A), which was founded in 1906 by entrepreneur John D. Spreckels. Dubbed "The Impossible Railr ...
, owned by Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...
to the east and the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System
The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) is a public transit service provider for San Diego County, California. The agency operates a transit system that includes the San Diego MTS bus system, San Diego Trolley, and Rapid (San Diego), Rap ...
to the west. The route to the west is currently inactive.
The first post office at Plaster City opened in 1924.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 ...
: Plaster City West Off-Highway Vehicle Area and Plaster City East Off-Highway Vehicle Area. The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail runs through the OHV areas.[https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/maps-avenza-california-western_imperial_county_routes.pdf]
Publicity and media
In the 1963 film ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' is a 1963 American Technicolor epic comedy film in Ultra Panavision 70 produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, from a screenplay by William and Tania Rose. The film, starring Spencer Tracy with an all ...
'', Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann; January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American singer and actress. Known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and her leading roles in musical theatre, musical theater,Obituary ''Variety Obitua ...
's character is seen talking on a pay telephone to her son, saying that she was "in a place called Plaster City."
In 1993 Plaster City was briefly the locale of the fully restored ''Eureka'' locomotive, one of the last narrow gauge steam locomotives from the height of railroad development in the West.
References
External links
California CEQA filings
Company towns in California
1920 establishments in California
{{ImperialCountyCA-geo-stub