Barstow, California: A Transportation Focus in a Desert Environment

Abstract

]B~ oARSTOW is located in the heart of the Mojave Desert, an environment so sterile that of itself it could not support a fraction of the present approximately 6000 population. Irrigated agriculture, mining, and grazing-economic bases of many desert towns-support few people in the area. Why, then, did a town grow here? How is it economically sustained? The search for the explanation of Barstow's growth involves an analysis of the significance of certain physical elements of the desert environment in terms of the types of transportation which have crossed the region. Barstow is a point of convergence for transportation routes that cross the wide expanses of the Mojave Desert and link central and eastern United States with the Los Angeles Lowland and with Central California (Fig. 1). The growth of the town is the result of a combination of four major elements: the landforms, which funnel transportation lines into the Mojave River valley and focus them on Barstow; the transcontinental routes which carry huge volumes of traffic; distance, which causes traffic to demand services at this point; and, the critical factor, a sufficient water supply. The explanation of how the town is economically sustained involves an analysis of the present functions which are direct outgrowths of the convergence of travel routes. These functions are represented by the Santa Fe Railroad freight consolidation yards and Diesel shops, the United States Marine Corps Supply and Repair Depot, the highways services, and the regional capital.