Zzyzx is possibly the town with the most curious name in the world; If you haven’t heard it and want to know its story, we will tell it to you here. You will see, This small, unpronounceable town is located in the middle of absolute nowhere in the Mojave Desert in California, United States.. And you will also be surprised to know that if the first town, alphabetically speaking, is called «A» and is located in Norway, this is the last and contains within its limits a history as unique as its own name. At we are lovers of the curiosities of the world, so in this new reading, join us to discover this curious story.
The last town in the world: Zzyzx,
In San Bernardino County, with an environment created by the sun, the heat, the hot earth, cacti and lizards running around looking for some shade, Zzyzx appears. cAs you might imagine, there are few things that can be done there today, especially being the perfect set for the biggest flops in cinema.. However, before this town bore its particular name, it was a fairly frequented territory, which served as a transit for all those who wanted to go on vacation to the attractive coast of California. With beautiful inns and landscapes, it was the perfect place to spend the night and continue the march the next day.
Until the 19th century, Zzyzx was a place where the US military used to have a base of operations. Strategically, it was quite suitable, it provided them with tranquility and good communications to maneuver. It was also common to see groups of tourists who decided to take some photographs of the lakes that are located in the heart of the desert. or that they stopped to eat something and continued on their way again.
As time went by, Zzyzx was forgotten, and it’s all because two things happened. It all started with the arrival of the railroad, which definitively linked Nevada with California, no one needed to take a break in that town anymore. And shortly after, the military base that was there fell into disuse, until it became a place that no one visited. This is how Zzyzx became that arid land that one saw passing by from the train window, a town that, little by little, was left without inhabitants. and without the facilities of the US Army. Only the desert wind gave those lands movement…
1. Why is it called that?
After the abandonment of Zzyzx the town lost its original name, and it was not until 1944 that something interesting happened. The silence was filled with activity after an evangelical preacher who had become quite famous on the radio had a curious idea after coming across that scene one day while traveling on the train. His name was Curtis Springer, a man who called himself a doctor of medicine and a Methodist. In several of his radio interviews he said that he was the «last of the old-time healers.»
Seeing that town abandoned and without much importance, Springer thought that he could take advantage of that land by building a spa and a religious center, taking advantage of the mineral waters of the place. I would sell it as heaven on earth! A place where no matter what illness you had, the waters of the spa would cure you. Why not? It could be profitable.
Curtis thought he could sell his idea by offering the spa as the final cure for all diseases, including cancer and osteoarthritis problems, which at that time were very common. And to make the project sound even more impressive, he thought of a unique name that would give originality to his “cure-all” spa. He grabbed the alphabet and scribbled a name in his notebook: “Zzyzx” (pronounced zi-six)..
The name he gave to the place arose from the long and annoying path he had to take to get there. When the evangelical preacher saw that the place seemed to be the end of the world, surrounded by nothingness itself, he looked for the last letters of the alphabet to name that inhospitable nameless place.
2. The spa
The spa business was more or less good until 1974. At that time the government realized the enormous scam it was developing with its spa, and the prices it stipulated for all visitors who wanted to get rid of their pain and illnesses. Curtis had a license for mining activities, not for a spa… So when they found out that he had appropriated the territory that, by that time, was already part of the Mojave National Reserve, the imminent thing happened..
The closure and the complaint did not take long to arrive and, shortly after, the Zzyzx town went from being an earthly paradise where you would have the opportunity to cure your ills, to what it is today: a place abandoned by people, where the only thing you see passing is time; Their houses destroyed, the metal rusted and the streets covered in dust. There are almost no inhabitants left, especially because there you can’t live on almost anything, so they leave in search of a better quality of life.
Even so, Zzyzx still had a small way of attracting people, it was the setting, the name of the town and that magical balance of the desert, ideal for filming movies. So it was. Several production companies arrived and several films were made that are not very well known today. Later, some musical groups such as the Norwegian «Zeromancer» chose the name Zzyzx to baptize one of their albums, as did the Stone Four, achieving many hits with their «Zzyzx.» Incredible and curious, isn’t it?
Today we can only find in this evocative town a small complex dedicated to studying the beautiful Mojave Desert. But yes, they accept visits and any project that can raise the fame of «Zzyzx» again. If you want to know more about curious places in the world, we invite you to delve into the mysteries of Easter Island, we assure you that you will love them.