This is the official Eagle Mountain and area genealogical/historical web
site. These are the family trees of former Eagle Mountain residents.
FLASH:
Eagle Mountain is rapidly passing into the realm of myth and legend, while
immutably remaining in the memories and hearts of those who lived and grew-up there.
Now a ghost town, it is located about 11 miles north of Desert Center, California,
in the middle of the Colorado Desert. This small community began as Kaiser Steel
Corporation's iron ore mining camp about 1947/48. When the mine shut down (1983),
the company owned town died.
(Eagle Mountain, our special hometown, was sold to Ecology Mountain Holdings on 17 April, 2023. The Cerritos, California, based company paid 22.58 million dollars for the approximately 10,000 acre chunk of the desert. What will happen next is apparently a tightly guarded secret.)
Eagle Mountain's population was never more than 3,800 people, at any one time.
However, more than this have lived there during the over three decades it existed.
Most of the former residents of Kaiser's town have very fond memories of their life
there. During its prime, the small community sported many amenities which included:
green grassy yards, tree lined paved streets (with sidewalks), three public schools,
several churches, playgrounds, swimming pools, a recreation hall, U. S. Post Office
(Zip Code 92241*), a gas station and a small shopping center.
*After the mine closed, the Zip Code was transferred to
Desert Hot Springs, located in the Coachella Valley, north of Indio.
Desert Center rests on Interstate 10, which connects Blythe and Indio, California.
Founded by "Desert Steve" Ragsdale in 1921, it's still an important and colorful respite
between the Coachella Valley and the Colorado River. It was moved to its present (c2021)
location in 1925. (The Ragsdale family has passed ownership/control of
Desert Center, after a century. Riverside resident Balwinder Singh Wraich bought Desert Center for 6.25 million dollars on 13 July, 2021. Wraich reportedly plans to restore and revive this 100 year old respite.)
Lake Tamarisk is located on Kaiser Road, about two miles north of Desert Center
and nine miles southeast of Eagle Mountain. It was started by Kaiser Steel Corporation,
as an alternative housing area (with a 9-hole golf course!) for its employees and their
families. Today (c2017), it's mostly a "snowbird" community of retired people, who
seasonally come to enjoy the mild winters. As well as some year-round residents. For an
"Eagle's eye view," see the aerial photograph.
There are three Los Angeles Metropolitan Water District pumping stations, in the general
area of the former iron ore mine: Hayfield (later, also known as "Hinds,") Iron
Mountain and Eagle Mountain. They remain vital parts of the Los Angeles
Aqueduct, which was constructed (prior to World War II) to supply water to Los Angeles.
This liquid thread traverses the desert from the Colorado River to Lake Matthews, near
Riverside.
Regarding this site, it should be noted:
----Uniqueness: Eagle Mountain Family Trees (EMFT) is singularly rare and unique:
a special historical and genealogical record. EMFT is separate from, not connected with,
not a part of, nor a replacement for any website/message board relating to the former
Kaiser Mine and community. There's lots to see and learn here which will not be found
elsewhere. And, of course, all the memories!
----Contact Data: Participating former Eagle Mountain & selected area residents
have their email address, postal mailing address, telephone number and/or personal webpage
URL displayed within their genealogical record. (The email address and webpage URL are
shown as separate links. Simply left click the appropriate one, to send them a message or
visit their webpage.
----Residency: Unless otherwise stated, refers to the barracks and housing areas at
the Eagle Mountain mine. The street addresses of former mine residents will be shown, when
available. Those families residing at near-by pumping stations and Desert Center are
included here, if their children attended the Eagle Mountain schools between 1958 and
1983. Some of the miners lived in Indio, Blythe or Desert Center. At least one miner
resided in the barracks, during the work week, while the family resided in Simi Valley.
----Sources: Include the "Talon" (Eagle Mountain High School yearbook), former and
current area residents, as well as public documents. Some data remains as yet unconfirmed.
Data from public sources or a part of public records will be displayed.
----First and Last Names: Those which are presently unavailable, are shown as
"Unavailable." Similarly, some unavailable first names are shown as a "?" and may be
followed by a number. Consider these as place markers.
----Additions and corrections: They're welcomed. Send them to the Administrator.
(This includes names, dates, contact data, images, etc.) Submit only valid data with which
you feel comfortable making public. (A template is available.)
Submissions will be entered and displayed as soon as possible. The contact data will NOT
otherwise be shared with anyone.
----Photographs and Images: This site welcomes quality images of the community made
prior to 1983. Unfortunately, Tribal Pages has imposed restrictions which limits the
quality and quantity of images. The street map series suffers markedly from this quality.
degradation. For those which are presently not on display, check with the Administrator.
----Visitor Access Code (Password): Subject to change without notice.
----Guest Book: Available for your viewing and/or "signing." Please do not post additions, URLs, corrections or personal data in the Guest Book. If you've a webpage, you may contact the Administrator so it may be included within your genealogical record.
----EMFT Group: Keep abreast of the latest additions here and share your memories of Eagle Mountain by visiting our Eagle Mountain Family Trees Group at GOOGLE.
May your visits be enjoyable and nostalgic. This is a working site and there are more entries, images and updates yet to be displayed. So, make return visits soon.
The time now in Eagle Mountain, California--
Contents Of This Site:
The data and images here are not for public/private/commercial distribution or use, without previous permission from the copyright owner, Larry E Litteral. Your observance of the individuals' privacy rights is appreciated. Some data has yet to be confirmed. Some information here is not necessarily cast in stone. This site is protected under United States and international copyright laws. The information here is not for commercial use under any circumstances and is intellectual property of the copyright owner: Larry E Litteral.
copyright 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Larry E Litteral. (This welcome page revised 01 April 2024)
