Daggett, California
Encyclopedia
Daggett is an unincorporated
town located in San Bernardino County, California
in the United States
. The town is located on Interstate 40
ten miles (16 km) East of Barstow
. The town has a population of about 200. The ZIP code
is 92327 and the community is inside area code 760
.
in area mines. In 1882, the Southern Pacific Railroad from Mojave
was being completed in the area and it was thought that a good name for the town would be Calico Junction. But this name would be too confusing since it was right next to Calico, where the silver was uncovered. It was decided to name the city after then Lieutenant Governor of California
, John Daggett
, during the Spring of 1883.
For two years, it was the terminal of the twenty-mule team run from Death Valley
, but after one of their swampers, William Pitt was lynched, the Pacific Borax Company made the terminal in Mojave.
Not only did silver define Daggett's history, but borax
was also important to the city's economy. This borax was being mined, around the turn of the century, out of the Calico Hills nearby. This operation required many more laborers to come to the city to help. The Borate and Daggett Railroad
was built to haul borax ore from the mines up in the hills down to Daggett.
. The facility is a general aviation
airport serving the Barstow area. It is also the regional weather information center. The airport was built as a modification center for the Douglas A-20 Havoc bomber aircraft that were sent to Russia as part of the Lend-Lease
program during World War II
.
. The Silver Valley High School
is located at 35484 Daggett/Yermo Rd, Daggett, CA 92327, (760) 254-2963.
plants, SEGS I (built in 1984) and SEGS II (built in 1985) of the SEGS
network are located in Daggett.
Daggett was also home to a unique solar thermal energy
plant named Solar One, a pilot project which was operational from 1982 to 1986. The plant used mirror-like heliostat
s to aim sunlight at a collecting sphere located on a solar power tower
(a type of solar furnace
), through which oil flowed. The large quantity of sunlight reflected on the sphere superheated the oil, which was then used to create steam for power generation. The plant was upgraded in 1995 as part of the Solar Two project. Solar Two substituted molten salt compounds instead of oil as an energy storage medium.
During calibration of the power plant's thousands of heliostats, a ball of glowing light was sometimes seen in the nearby area. This effect was caused by the heliostats focusing sunlight onto a specific point. As the intensity of the light increased, it reflected off dust in the desert air. This phenomenon was sometimes seen by passersby on the nearby highways 40 and 15
.
Solar Two was decommissioned in 1999, and the facility was converted in 2001 into a gamma-ray astronomy
telescope. The facility is now known as CACTUS
(Converted Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope Using Solar-2). CACTUS, which is operated by the University of California, Davis
but owned by Southern California Edison
, operated from late 2004 until late 2005.
On November 25, 2009 the Solar Two tower was demolished The site was levelled by Southern California Edison. All heliostats and other hardware were removed. Plans are in place to develop a training facility for Southern California Edison to train personnel on construction and maintenance of high power transmission lines and towers.
and Union Pacific Railroad
on the BNSF Needles Subdivision. Train service is very frequent on the line as this line goes to Chicago.
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
town located in San Bernardino County, California
San Bernardino County, California
San Bernardino County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,035,210, up from 1,709,434 as of the 2000 census...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The town is located on Interstate 40
Interstate 40
Interstate 40 is the third-longest major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90 and I-80. Its western end is at Interstate 15 in Barstow, California; its eastern end is at a concurrency of U.S. Route 117 and North Carolina Highway 132 in Wilmington, North Carolina...
ten miles (16 km) East of Barstow
Barstow, California
Barstow is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 22,639 at the 2010 census, up from 21,119 at the 2000 census. Barstow is located north of San Bernardino....
. The town has a population of about 200. The ZIP code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
is 92327 and the community is inside area code 760
Area codes 442 and 760
Image:Area_code_442.svg|right|Map of California area codes in blue with 442/760 in redrect 65 82 92 100 Area code 916rect 220 242 245 256 Area code 909rect 243 274 265 287 Area code 951rect 136 323 160 338 Area code 858...
.
History
The town was originally founded in the 1880s just after the discovery of silverSilver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
in area mines. In 1882, the Southern Pacific Railroad from Mojave
Mojave, California
Mojave is a census-designated place in Kern County, California, United States. Mojave is located east of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 2762 feet...
was being completed in the area and it was thought that a good name for the town would be Calico Junction. But this name would be too confusing since it was right next to Calico, where the silver was uncovered. It was decided to name the city after then Lieutenant Governor of California
Lieutenant Governor of California
The Lieutenant Governor of California is a statewide constitutional officer elected separately from the Governor who serves as the "vice-executive" of California. The Lieutenant Governor of California is elected to serve a four year term and can serve a maximum of two terms...
, John Daggett
John Daggett
John Daggett served as the 16th Lieutenant Governor of California from 1883 to 1887. The site known as Calico Junction just south of the mining town of Calico, California, was renamed Daggett, California, in 1883 for Lieutenant Governor John Daggett....
, during the Spring of 1883.
For two years, it was the terminal of the twenty-mule team run from Death Valley
Death Valley
Death Valley is a desert valley located in Eastern California. Situated within the Mojave Desert, it features the lowest, driest, and hottest locations in North America. Badwater, a basin located in Death Valley, is the specific location of the lowest elevation in North America at 282 feet below...
, but after one of their swampers, William Pitt was lynched, the Pacific Borax Company made the terminal in Mojave.
Not only did silver define Daggett's history, but borax
Borax
Borax, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral, and a salt of boric acid. It is usually a white powder consisting of soft colorless crystals that dissolve easily in water.Borax has a wide variety of uses...
was also important to the city's economy. This borax was being mined, around the turn of the century, out of the Calico Hills nearby. This operation required many more laborers to come to the city to help. The Borate and Daggett Railroad
Borate and Daggett Railroad
The Borate and Daggett Railroad was a narrow gauge railroad built to carry borax in the Mojave Desert. The railroad ran about 11 miles from Daggett, California, USA to Borate, California, USA.-History:...
was built to haul borax ore from the mines up in the hills down to Daggett.
Airport
Daggett is the location of Barstow-Daggett AirportBarstow-Daggett Airport
Barstow-Daggett Airport is a county-owned public-use airport in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It is located four nautical miles east of the central business district of the town of Daggett, and east of the city of Barstow...
. The facility is a general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
airport serving the Barstow area. It is also the regional weather information center. The airport was built as a modification center for the Douglas A-20 Havoc bomber aircraft that were sent to Russia as part of the Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
program during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Schools
Daggett is part of the Silver Valley Unified School DistrictSilver 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 Delaware...
. The Silver Valley High School
Silver Valley High School
Silver Valley High School in Yermo, California is located at 35484 Daggett/Yermo Rd, Yermo, CA 92398, in the High Desert of Southern California. The school is in the Silver Valley Unified School District.The current principal is Cameron Smart...
is located at 35484 Daggett/Yermo Rd, Daggett, CA 92327, (760) 254-2963.
Statistics
As of 2003, 1000 people lived in Daggett, though nearly 1500 live in the surrounding area. Only about 200 people actually live in the town. The town's elevation is approximately 2000 feet (609.6 m).Solar Power Generation
The worlds first commercial solar powerSolar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
plants, SEGS I (built in 1984) and SEGS II (built in 1985) of the SEGS
Solar Energy Generating Systems
Solar Energy Generating Systems is the largest solar energy generating facility in the world. It consists of nine solar power plants in California's Mojave Desert, where insolation is among the best available in the United States...
network are located in Daggett.
Daggett was also home to a unique solar thermal energy
Solar thermal energy
Solar thermal energy is a technology for harnessing solar energy for thermal energy . Solar thermal collectors are classified by the United States Energy Information Administration as low-, medium-, or high-temperature collectors. Low-temperature collectors are flat plates generally used to heat...
plant named Solar One, a pilot project which was operational from 1982 to 1986. The plant used mirror-like heliostat
Heliostat
A heliostat is a device that includes a mirror, usually a plane mirror, which turns so as to keep reflecting sunlight toward a predetermined target, compensating for the sun's apparent motions in the sky. The target may be a physical object, distant from the heliostat, or a direction in space...
s to aim sunlight at a collecting sphere located on a solar power tower
Solar power tower
The solar power tower is a type of solar furnace using a tower to receive the focused sunlight. It uses an array of flat, movable mirrors to focus the sun's rays upon a collector tower...
(a type of solar furnace
Solar furnace
A solar furnace is a structure that captures sunlight to produce high temperatures, usually for industry. This is done with a curved mirror that acts as a parabolic reflector, concentrating light onto a focal point...
), through which oil flowed. The large quantity of sunlight reflected on the sphere superheated the oil, which was then used to create steam for power generation. The plant was upgraded in 1995 as part of the Solar Two project. Solar Two substituted molten salt compounds instead of oil as an energy storage medium.
During calibration of the power plant's thousands of heliostats, a ball of glowing light was sometimes seen in the nearby area. This effect was caused by the heliostats focusing sunlight onto a specific point. As the intensity of the light increased, it reflected off dust in the desert air. This phenomenon was sometimes seen by passersby on the nearby highways 40 and 15
Interstate 15
Interstate 15 is the fourth-longest north–south Interstate Highway in the United States, traveling through the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, and Montana from San Diego to the Canadian border...
.
Solar Two was decommissioned in 1999, and the facility was converted in 2001 into a gamma-ray astronomy
Gamma-ray astronomy
Gamma-ray astronomy is the astronomical study of the cosmos with gamma rays. Gamma-rays are the most energetic form of "light" that travel across the universe, and gamma-rays thus have the smallest wavelength of any wave in the electromagnetic spectrum.Gamma-rays are created by celestial events...
telescope. The facility is now known as CACTUS
Cactus
A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae. Their distinctive appearance is a result of adaptations to conserve water in dry and/or hot environments. In most species, the stem has evolved to become photosynthetic and succulent, while the leaves have evolved into spines...
(Converted Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope Using Solar-2). CACTUS, which is operated by the University of California, Davis
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
but owned by Southern California Edison
Southern California Edison
Southern California Edison , the largest subsidiary of Edison International , is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California, USA. It provides 14 million people with electricity...
, operated from late 2004 until late 2005.
On November 25, 2009 the Solar Two tower was demolished The site was levelled by Southern California Edison. All heliostats and other hardware were removed. Plans are in place to develop a training facility for Southern California Edison to train personnel on construction and maintenance of high power transmission lines and towers.
Rail Freight
Rail freight is provided by BNSF RailwayBNSF Railway
The BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...
and Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
on the BNSF Needles Subdivision. Train service is very frequent on the line as this line goes to Chicago.
External links
- http://www.ieesocal.org/review3.html - Information on the SolarI and II power plants