Salton Sea -Head to Bombay Beach
Don’t you wonder where some names come from? Did someone from Mumbai get washed up on the Salton Sea beach, Doubtful. Although it is not in India, life can get pretty hot at this Salton Sea locale. It used to be a resort but that would be a stretch that your imagination probably would have a struggle with. Here are the stats for the number folks - population: 366; elevation: -225 feet
When tropical storms (who says California interior doesn’t get them?) hit the area the Salton Sea rose dramatically. There is nothing like an entire town flood two years in a row in the 70’s to bring on the completion of a dike wall in front of the sea. Locals lost the famous shoreline bar, "The Waterfront", owned by the late Hunky Frank along with a popular mobile home park. You don’t play around with Mother Nature in these parts.
Made up of a square mile grid of paved streets, the majority of the residents live in eclectic mobile homes. A small corner market, bars, bait shop, volunteer fire station, an unmarked motel, and the flooded ruins of a once prosperous fishing mecca make up the commercial element.
With no gas station for miles, most people rely on electrical golf carts to get around town. For many years, the community was primarily made up of retirees, but in recent years a younger, mixed group have settled in to find their fortune/eke out a living.
The community was founded as a private development in 1929 by R.E. Gilliagan and quickly grew in popularity with weekend visitors and retirees.
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