Desert Center: What Happened Here? (Part 2 of 3)

by Steve Reiss (Dalmdad Landscape Photography - www.dalmdad.com and https://www.facebook.com/Dalmdad.)

Desert Center, California: February, 15, 2014:

I walked up to the closed Desert Center Cafe, in ghostly Desert Center, expecting to see cobwebs, a few pieces of paper on the floor, and broken up furniture; signs of a long-closed business.

I looked in the window and was shocked and surprised.

The cafe looks like it was temporarily closed while the owner ran out to run an errand; maybe to the closed post office across the street.

The tables were spotless.  Sugar, salt, and pepper holders remained on the tables as if there was no time to attract bugs or rats.

 

 

Rooster Pepper Sauce looking a little old.

"Closed Temporarily"

OK: There is food to the east and west...Menu looked Good!

Sign looks not that old...

And when was the last time you saw a phone booth, no less a row of three of them?

The ATM machine was the only thing seemingly packed up for the closure.. 


***

A nice man that I met in front of the closed post office told me the cafe had closed "last year."

According to the Cafe's Yelp Site, the Cafe was at least open on April 13, 2013, when the visitor had the "Best Ortega burger ever!" and gave the place 5 stars.  In January, 2013, Kathy from France visited and said it was like a time warp (though she does not actually mention whether it was open).  A Four-Square reporter said that on March 29, 2013 that the place was closed.

A far less favorable review, was from a April 2012 visitor:

On a road trip a couple of years ago, I stopped here to eat. It's the only structure in this "town" that shows any hint of life. I tried the patty melt. It was very greasy, which is not unforgivable for a patty melt. The real problem with it was that the meat tasted old...and also a bit like freezer burn. On a more recent trip I stopped again, this time due to kids who were crying out in desperation for a bathroom break. Upon pulling up in front, I noticed a sign in the window that said something about not having a trash can available for you to use, ending with "take your trash with you!" I've never been a fan of businesses that choose to assail their potential customers with signs admonishing them of all of the things they will NOT be allowed to do while patronizing the place, but nature was evidently calling. As we approached the door, I saw another sign. "Restroom Use $1.00 Service Fee For Non Customers!"

Sigh...that was enough for me. It's only 19 miles to Chiriaco Summit...skip this place.

***

According to Yelp, the Cafe was closed for some time between July and October 2012.   Furthermore, when fellow explorer and former New Yorker, Sandi Hemmerlein of the Avoiding Regret blog was there in 2012, it looks like the cafe was closed.

While there are many reports about older visits to the cafe, there is little on the web, including the cafe's semi official/unofficial site as to when the staff will step back in and start the grill and friers again...

However, I did receive an email on April 4, 2014, from "Suzanne", saying the Cafe can open "at any time now".

***

Desert Center: Not Much the Center of Anywhere (Part 1 of 3)

by Steve Reiss (Dalmdad Landscape Photography - www.dalmdad.com and https://www.facebook.com/Dalmdad.)

Despite its name, Desert Center, California, is not much the center of anything.  Well, maybe it is the middle of the Colorado Desert, between Indio and Bylthe, CA; but that is about it.

Desert Center's 'downtown' area, located just off the I-10 at CA-177 (Exit 192), is almost completely deserted except for the post office, which as can be seen here, has limited hours.  There is also a quiet Caltrans maintenance station, not worthy of photography, a few steps away.

Besides the Caltrans station, there are basically three buildings remaining in the downtown area.  

First, there is the Desert Center Market, which despite the relatively fresh looking paint, is deserted and empty.

Next, there is the gas station at the intersection of CA-177 and Ragsdale Road, the main street through 'downtown'.  Truckers use this empty gas station and the huge empty lot across the street to take a break and maybe catch a nap.



Across the road from the deserted market, is the recently (2012 or so; more to come) closed Desert Center Cafe and an attached gas station that appears to be deserted far longer.  These adobe-style, poured concrete, buildings date back to 1921-27 (depending where you read; compare here (1921) with here (1927).  In any event, these buildings date back to the original founding of Desert Center by the Ragsdale family. 

Looking across the road from the area of the post office

Closer view

See here for an awesome view of this complex from 1953.

Looking east, the cafe sign is well weathered...

Looking west, however, the sign looks pretty fresh...

There is a totem pole next to the Cafe

The totem pole depicts different desert animals, with the king of the desert animals, the desert bighorn ram, at its peak.

The remains of the gas station are a mechanic's dream of sheet metal, worn paint, gears, springs, and wires...


 

Remember the days when gas pumps did not have a dollar indicator and the pump price had to be doubled?

There is also an abandoned caboose sitting near the cafe, across the road from the post office.

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Town meeting at the post office?

***

Coming soon...inside the abandoned cafe?