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American Road Magazine
Celebrating our two-lane highways of yesteryear…And the joys of driving them today!

Dancing In The Desert - Kudos To American Road!


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The American Road Magazine interview with Marta Becket, noted former New York dancer, now at Death Valley Junction, was great! This past winter we were wandering the southwest and traveled through Death Valley. In what seemed like the most unlikely spot, we came upon an old time desert oasis; Death Valley Junction.

 

Frankly, we didn’t know what we were looking at. We stopped and were greeted by several tame peacocks and a variety of buildings with the look of a 1920’s desert community, complete with an opera house! All I could think was that here was a fine example of what a 1920’s or 1930’s traveler would have seen motoring the old two lane roads through the great American desert. All except the opera house, which was a puzzle until we read a small sign.

 

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Peacocks at Death Valley Junction

Things were pretty quiet in mid winter, and only a few vehicles passed by while we were stopped. I took a few quick photos with my pocket camera and then we took State Line Road toward Pahrump and Las Vegas. Of course now I wish we had stayed longer and looked around a bit more!

 

ARDVJ.jpg

Part of the Hotel and the Opera house at Death Valley Junction.

 

The great interview with Ms Becket tells the story we missed, but I have included some photos of the scene we encountered. The Opera House and hotel complex is well maintained and on the west side of the road. On the other side of the road is a vintage abandoned gas station, not so well maintained, but interesting to any roadie.

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The Abandoned Service Station. Gasoline here in 1935 was 25 cents a gallon.

 

The sheer incongruity of an opera house in the middle of the desert complete with famed performer makes Death Valley Junction worth a visit. When you add the prospect of a delightful performance as described in American Road, its time to buckle up the ‘ole seat belts and hit the road. You can stay at the hotel, at Furnace Creek or in Pahrump.

 

Death Valley Junction (and the buildings there now), once served as headquarters for the producers of Borax. You don’t see it as much now, but as a kid, we used to scrub our hands with Boraxo from a black and white tin that featured the famed 20 Mule Team. And just about every service station restroom once had a white Boraxo hand soap dispenser.

 

In 1935 the H. M. Gousha Guide observed that the town was occupied mostly by employees of the Pacific Coast Borax Company.. You could get a meal at the coffee shop for 75 to 85 cents ($11.38 - $12.90, inflation adjusted), and a double room at the hotel was $4.00 ($60.72 - inflation adjusted). Remembering that 1935 was near the depth of the great depression, I suddenly feel better about travel costs today!

 

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An Excerpt from the 1935 Gousha Guide

 

The 1935 Guide states that gas here was 5 cents cheaper than in Death Valley. The price of gas in Death Valley was 30 cents, so at Death Valley Junction it was 25 cents (inflation adjusted = $3.79 today).

 

To American Road Magazine...thanks for the rest.... and the best of the story!

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

Edited by Keep the Show on the Road!
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