Slab City, California


Slab City, also called The Slabs, is an unincorporated, largely snowbird community in the Sonoran Desert located in the Salton Trough in Imperial County, California. Located near the east shore of the Salton Sea, Slab City is 100 miles northeast of San Diego and 169 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Slab City is used by recreational vehicle owners and squatters from across North America. It took its name from concrete slabs that remained from the abandoned World War II Marine Corps barracks of Camp Dunlap.
The area that is now Slab City was the artillery training range for the Camp. It was first settled by a few veterans who had worked at the Marine base. Current residents refer to themselves as Slabbies while tourists are called Normies. The two individuals who had the greatest impact in the starting of the current settlement were Leonard Knight who created Salvation Mountain and Charlie Russel who built the first art installations in the area called East Jesus.

The community

Slab City is widespread, roughly 640 acres of public land.
A journalist who visited this area filed this report in October 2019:
"Slab City is part artistic commune, part snowbird getaway, and part refuge for druggies and squatters... No property taxes, no utilities or other normal civic dues exist here.

She also found a free lending library and The Range, an open-air nightclub with "lights, amplifiers, speakers, and a stage... Beaten up chairs and couches are scattered around for seating" where talent shows were being held on Saturday nights". There was no sewage or waste disposal being offered, leading to a very large amount of garbage and filth". There is no "food, water, healthcare, law enforcement available here" and the single communal shower serves all residents, up to 4,000 in winter. The so-called Salvation Mountain was a series of painted rocks, stacked three stories high, with bible verses and art work. The settlement also has an internet cafe and a hostel.
The community site is both decommissioned and uncontrolled. Many residents use generators or solar panels to generate electricity. The closest body of civilization with proper law enforcement is approximately four miles southwest of Slab City in Niland where the residents often go to do basic shopping. As a result, the site is described by its inhabitants and news outlets like Vice News as a miniature de facto enclave of anarchy.
There is one Airbnb accommodation in Slab City, "the Littlest Barn in the Desert... a tiny house hosted by Rodney ".
The 2019 report described East Jesus as a "sustainable, habitable, constantly changing art exhibit in Slab City... there are no utilities, no ties to modern life. Some of the work here is truly fascinating and is made from many different and unusual materials.
Thousands of campers and RV owners, most retired, use the site during the winter months. The "snowbirds" stay only for the winter before migrating north in spring to cooler climates. The temperatures during summer are as high as 120 °F ; nonetheless, there is a group of around 150 permanent residents who live in "The Slabs" year round. Some of these "Slabbers" derive their living from government programs and have been driven to "The Slabs" by poverty. Others have moved to "The Slabs" to learn how to live off the grid and be left alone. Still others have moved there to stretch their retirement income.
A January 2020 report stated that Slab Ciy was started by "transient, freedom-seeking people" who are now "all living off the grid in trailers, tents, lean-tos, and broken-down school buses in a remote patch of the Sonoran Desert". The report added that the community "has more than a dozen individual neighborhoods... small camps of people with their own particular rules and culture". In an interview, well-known resident "Spyder" summarized the appeal of Slab City. "In a big city... they have too many laws... out here nobody tells me what to do".

History

Prior to the United States' official entry into World War II, the United States Marine Corps made the decision to site a training ground for field and anti-aircraft artillery units in an area accessible by aircraft taking off from carriers near San Diego. To create the training base, were obtained. The government announced that the base was to be named after Brigadier General Robert Henry Dunlap, U.S.M.C. After construction of Camp Dunlap was completed, it was commissioned on October 15, of 1942. The camp had fully functioning buildings, water, roads, and sewage collections. The base was used for three years during the war. By 1949, military operations at Camp Dunlap had been greatly reduced, but a skeleton crew continued on until the base was dismantled. By 1956, all buildings had been dismantled, but the slabs remained.
As of October 6, 1961, a quitclaim deed conveying the land to the State of California was issued by the Department of Defense as it was determined the land was no longer required. The deed did not contain any restrictions, recapture clauses or restoration provisions. All of the former Camp Dunlap buildings had been removed. The remaining slabs were not proposed for removal. Later, legislation required that revenue generated from this property go to the California State Teachers Retirement System.
Leonard Knight, an early settler who created the Salvation Mountain art installation, was featured in Sean Penn's Into the Wild, released in 2007. An obituary of Knight stated that he "spent almost 30 years building the colorful mountain... Built out of adobe and donated paint, Knight worked on the mountain all day, every day. He even slept at the mountain's base in the back of a pick-up truck, with no electricity or running water".
An article in Smithsonian magazine in October 2018 referred to the community as a "Squatters’ Paradise" which locals consider to be "one of America's last free places". The article said of the population: "There are clearly people there who don’t want to be found, so there’s something about disappearing, and the desert offers that kind of opportunity". A news item in April 2020 stated that Slab City "lacks infrastructure such as running water or electricity. The community is a high risk for contagion of COVID-19".
A brief documentary film in 2019, "The Last Lawless Land in America: Slab City", provided an insight into the settlement, its art works and residents.. According to the producers, "the land is officially owned by the state of California, so state and federal laws still apply, but officials seem to have no interest in dedicating resources to enforce them".

Attractions

Salvation Mountain

Located just east of California State Route 111, the entrance to Slab City is easily recognized by the colorful Salvation Mountain, which is a small hill approximately three stories tall and entirely covered in latex paint, concrete and adobe, and festooned with Bible verses. It was a project built over two decades by Leonard Knight. The work is a 50ft-tall piece of religious folk art "an unofficial centrepiece for the community and the area’s anarchic creative identity", according to a 2020 report.
In 2002, Salvation Mountain was named a National Treasure.
The current Salvation Mountain is actually the second construction to occupy the site; Knight began the first Salvation Mountain in 1984, using highly unstable construction methods that allowed the mountain to collapse in 1989. Knight was not discouraged; he rebuilt the structure using better materials and engineering, including adobe mixed with straw.
An article about Leonard Knight's work stated that he was a "visionary American folk artist" who "arrived accidentally... immediately recognized an opportunity to continue his large-scale gospel message. He made a mountain with his bare hands. Leonard built Salvation Mountain".
Before his death on February 10, 2014, Knight had been living in a nursing home; he was able to visit Salvation Mountain for the last time in May 2013; the visit was recorded by KPBS.

''East Jesus''

East Jesus is an experimental, sustainable and habitable art installation located in the Slab City area. There is no religious connotation in the name East Jesus – it is a colloquialism for a place in the middle of nowhere beyond the edge of service availability; the off-grid facility operates with no municipal utilities. In early 2007, Charlie Russell left his job in the technology industry, packed all his belongings into a shipping container and sent it to a trash-strewn field where he began to surround his two art cars with sculptures that would become the foundation works of East Jesus. The Chasterus Foundation, a 5013 non-profit formed after his death in 2011, has since guided the curation and expansion of East Jesus.
It was Russel, often called Container Charlie, who renamed his settlement site East Jesus. He died in May 2011. A brief video clip about Russel's life and work was created in 2011.
The East Jesus web site provides an insight into Charlie Russel's philosophy and art as well as his contribution to the art scene in the area. A brief video clip includes some scenes from the early days of Russel's tenure.
Made from discarded material that has been reused, recycled or repurposed, East Jesus encourages visitors to imagine a world without waste, in which every action is opportunity for self-expression. Assemblage and mixed-media art cover nearly every inch of it, interior and exterior. Sculptures and installations are constantly in development throughout campus, and the musical performance space holds a public address system, a stage lighting system, and a studio grand piano.
Information published in 2014 said that there was a solar power system with a battery bank made up of expired batteries disposed by telecom companies. Photography, multimedia art, performance art, writing and music are integral parts of a larger fabric, which their artists collectively are continually weaving. East Jesus artwork is living, growing and ever-changing, and embraces the thousands of varied voices from contributing artists who have added to the installation. Each day, residential staff was giving dozens of free tours, and hosted visiting artists and overnight guests.
A 2019 article described East Jesus as an "art museum" with "eccentric art installations made of repurposed garbage... that’s open to the public year-round, featuring a wall of broken TVs covered with pithy messages, a car adorned with baby doll heads, and other oddities".
A January 2020 report stated that the residents' camp had a caretaker by that time, Pyro Iskaki, and that the commune was equipped with a "battery bank, a backup diesel generator, composting toilets, a water heater, a hand-washing station, a library, a pantry, and a recycling area". The attempt to create "something more livable" had led to some criticism of East Jesus, according to Iskaki: "There are some people that believe we’re gentrifying the Slabs."

The Range

The Range is an open-air nightclub complete with stage, lights, amplifiers, and speakers, with tattered couches and old chairs for seating. Every Saturday night at around dusk, locals and visitors meet for a talent show that features permanent resident musicians and anyone else who wants to get up on stage and perform. The venue is run by old-time resident William Ammon, known as Builder Bill. Ammon's wife, Robin Ammon, collected old prom dresses for people to wear. These prom dresses are used when they put on a prom because many people who live there have not been able to actually go to a prom.

Threats to the community

The land is owned by the State of California. Speculations are that the state has been wanting to sell or lease the land. If the land were sold without provisions for the survival of the East Jesus community, the community and art installations may be bulldozed.
In 2015, William "Builder Bill" Ammon was heading up and helping to organize this effort. California has not yet decided if they are going to be selling the land, but the Lands Commission is thinking about starting the process of getting the land appraised, and, if needed, allow for cleanup due to military waste from when it was previously a base for the U.S.M.C.
A May 2020 article confirmed that the state was hoping to sell the land. "A sale could potentially go to energy companies... Many residents worry that a deal could leave them without a community or place to live, as the lawless Slab City has become the last resort for so many".