In an abandonedMarine Corpsbase in the Southern California desert lies Slab City , base to a jury-rigged community of artists , misfit , snowbirds and survivalists . know as the " last free place " in America , it ’s a living testimony to exemption in all of its conflicting forms , both beautiful and bleak .
The settlement father its name from the concrete creation left behind when the U.S. government shut down Camp Robert H. Dunlap , a Marine Corps base located near the lilliputian desert outstation of Niland , California . When Camp Dunlapwas in operationduring World War II , there were 30 buildings , 8 mile ( 13 kilometers ) of paved street , water and sewage treatment plant and even a swimming puddle .
After the war , operations wound down . In 1956 , Camp Dunlap was fully dismantled , and all 631 acres ( 255 hectares ) were handed over to the body politic of California in 1961 . Since the country had no plans for the desolate web site , squatters soon began to occupy the leftover concrete slabs , which served as sturdy instauration for makeshift encampments . And just like that , Slab City was born .
Decades ago , the only way to find Slab City — located south of Joshua Tree National Park and east of theSalton Sea — was by parole of mouth , but now it handily shows up onGoogle Maps .
Out of Anarchy, a Community
Ken and April Pishnaspent four Clarence Shepard Day Jr. at Slab Cityin 2019 , and the position left a lasting opinion . The couple trade their menage in Colorado and have been traveling the country in an RV , register their experiences in their blog and podcastLiving a Stout Life .
" Slab City is very alone , " say April . " I ’ve never make out across a place like it anywhere on terra firma . "
Both were n’t certain what to carry when they resolve to forgo a sojourn to Joshua Tree and instead visit Slab City , also known as the Slabs . They were prepared to see untamed fine art instalment , ramshackle habitation and lots of trash , but did n’t expect to regain a community .
" The one thing that surprised me when we get there was how organized things are , " aver Ken . " Everything you hear about Slab City — that it ’s lawless , it ’s the last destitute place , multitude just do what they want — is true to some extent , but there is also very much a community there . "
The original grid leave over from Camp Dunlap ’s paved streets is still there , and Slab City ’s twelvemonth - round residents ( roughly 150 peoplewilling to brave out the summer desert heat ) have built permanent homes out of decommissioned camping bus , palette , telephone poles and everything you’re able to imagine ( discarded bird is a resort theme ) . The results are chaotic - appear but well - keep dwellings that are respected by neighbor and visitors , the Pishnas say .
Even without an electrical gridiron or running water , there are trademark of normal community of interests sprightliness at Slab City : coffee shops , cafes , bar , lending program library and music venue . Commerce operates by donation or barter , and several of the larger entity at Slab City , likeSalvation spate , are registered 501(c)(3 ) non-profit-making arrangement .
Some of the more lasting and detailed art installations , likeEast Jesus , have posted visiting hours like a even museum or graphics drift . ( East Jesus also posts a detailed and colorfulsurvival guideon its site . " RULE ZERO IS : DO NOT PISS US OFF . Any questions ? Refer to Rule Zero . " )
As many as 4,000 citizenry live at Slab City in the cooler wintertime calendar month , according to The Washington Post , and visitors are more than welcome . Their first night at Slab City , the Pishnas were invited to a campfire sing - along . The next day , they hang up out with new friends at the coffee collective and go to a chili night at a Slab City student lodging .
Who Lives in Slab City?
The answer is all kinds of hoi polloi furrow all kinds of ideas of what it intend to be " free . " Thatincludesretirees and snowbirds face for a dirt cheap place to pass the wintertime , off - storage-battery grid survivalist and preppers who desire to live free of government intrusion , found - art enthusiast , hippy dropout , spiritual pilgrim and roofless people struggling with mental illness and drug addiction .
" There ’s quite a range of people at Slab City , " says Ken . " Some feel disgruntled with society and need something dissimilar . Others are there because they do n’t want to be under the government . We met a family with two young kids who come in every year for a few months out of necessity , because it was tacky . It ’s a very interesting dynamic out there . "
Among the permanent resident , April mentions Caribe , a military veteran soldier earlier from Puerto Rico who struck up a conversation with the Pishnas and show them around his sign of the zodiac filled with upcycled goods and a scope . Then there was a retired prof who had rigged up a large solar oven and a aquacultural garden that grow fresh vegetable in the stern desert sun .
But Ken and April are agile to say that there was a darker constituent as well , plenty of people who were openly using intemperate drugs , bumble around the encampments and last in trumpery - make full broken - down van . And there were others who were clearly battling mental unwellness , like a neighbour who woke them every morning with a flow of holler lewdness .
As the final verse of the " Slab City Song " says :
The Best and Worst of Humanity
To confabulate Slab City is to open yourself up to a unfeignedly one - of - a - variety experience in which the best and worst of humankind are on display . You ’ll chance fantastic expressions of sexual love and espousal like Salvation Mountain , intriguing and queerly beautiful whole kit and caboodle of art , and a welcoming community unforced to share their lifestyle . But you ’ll also encounter junkies , homelessness and a whole lot of deoxyephedrine .
The Pishnas meet some really cool people and go through some truly awful art , but after four days at Slab City they were ready to move on .
" Even in November , you ’re in the desert in the heat of the sun , " say April , " and you see the harshness of lifetime that ’s there . It becomes part of you and you feel the tautness and some of the desperation that people have . You feel the exemption , too , but the rest can take a price on you . "
The Pishnas are really grateful that they detain at the Slabs , though , even if they still have n’t made it to Joshua Tree . The couple recommends that if you visit Slab City , that you do n’t just push back through , but take clock time like they did to " imbed yourselves in the community , " which is the only means to truly get to know a topographic point .
