California City, The 20th-Century Ghost Town Built To Rival Los Angeles
Tedder/Wikimedia CommonsCalifornia City as seen in 2023. It never grew as much as its founder intended, as seen here in the outlines of neighborhoods that never materialized.
By the 1950s, most ghost towns on our list were completely abandoned. But California City was just getting started.
In the thick of the post-World War II real estate boom in California, a sociology professor named Nat Mendelsohn decided to purchase 82,000 acres in the Mojave Desert with the hopes of turning the land into a metropolis. He purportedly hoped to take advantage of the soaring real estate demand at the time and turn California City into the next Los Angeles.
Before long, the city was plotted out. California City was designed to coil around an artificial lake and several parks, and many streets were given names in preparation for their new residents. But buyers never materialized.
Anthony Albright/Wikimedia CommonsCalifornia City’s population slowly grew — but nowhere near the pace it was supposed to.
Not only was California City far from other populated areas, but construction of the site had created huge swaths of loose dirt. When the Santa Ana winds kicked up, it billowed through the town like a sandstorm.
Still, California City enjoyed some growth. Its population grew from about 1,000 — when the city was first incorporated — to 15,000 by 2020. (Meanwhile, the greater Los Angeles area has a population of around 18 million.) So, while this ghost town is not exactly abandoned, it is much emptier than Mendelsohn intended.
Today, California City is perhaps best known for its annual “Wasteland Weekend,” which bills itself as the “world’s largest post-apocalyptic festival.”
