US 95 Boondocking

  The desert is full of mysteries, both natural and man made. This one is man made. Someone started a large project with multiple building foundations and partially finished poured concrete walls topped with rebar. It’s surrounded by a flimsy wire fence which doesn't deter graffiti artists.

   When I googled the coordinates to put them in this post I noticed a photograph titled Elizalde Cement Plant. More googling and the mystery is solved. This was going to be the site of a factory producing fancy cement made with crushed marble from a nearby quarry. A couple of events doomed the project. A fire in 1941 destroyed the just completed machine shop, storehouse, blacksmith shop and an office along with all the equipment. Rationing, after the US joined the fight against Germany and Japan in WWII, made it impossible to get the fuel need to run the factory.

 This whole area is BLM land so we spent a quiet night in a large flat spot that was probably destined to be a parking lot. BLM  36.81919, -116.71708