Basin wiki · Places
Joshua Tree (the town)
Joshua Tree village · Joshua Tree CDP
The unincorporated village between Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms: a 1937 townsite, homestead cabins, a community college, and a long run of artists and musicians.
Not the park, not a city
Joshua Tree is a census-designated place, not a city. San Bernardino County governs it, and a Municipal Advisory Council acts as the community’s official go-between with the county.[9] The 2020 census counted 6,489 people at about 2,700 feet.[9] The park visitor center sits at Highway 62 and Park Boulevard in the middle of town. The park’s west entrance is about five miles south.[9]
A townsite on Twentynine Palms Road
In 1937 the Joshua Tree Townsite Company built offices along what was then Twentynine Palms Road. The population grew from 49 to 227 between 1941 and 1944. The first business block, five stores, went up in 1945, and the first post office in 1946. In 1949 the village had a thriving turkey industry and shared film locations with Pioneertown. In 1950 residents finished a fire station they built themselves.[1] A hospital district followed in 1963. The population reached 3,800 by 1967, and the community center opened in 1979.[1]
Homestead country
Homesteaders started arriving after a run of wet years beginning in 1912. When the rains stopped, the crops failed, most wells came up dry, and many families hauled water for miles.[2] In 1938, after land officials acknowledged the Mojave was not suited to large-scale farming, the Small Tract Act began offering five-acre “jackrabbit” homesteads.[3] The rush came after World War II. Rationing ended, building materials came back, and Highway 62 was paved, so Los Angeles weekenders could prove up a claim by building a small cabin.[4] Many of the small cabins scattered across the basin come from this era.[4]
A college started with a quilt raffle
Copper Mountain College began in 1966, when basin voters joined the Coachella Valley college district.[10] In 1981 volunteers began raising money for a campus of their own, starting with a $200 quilt raffle and eventually raising $1.8 million. The first phase opened in 1984 on 120 acres north of Highway 62 in Joshua Tree.[11] In 1999 basin residents voted by 90 percent to form their own district, and the college earned full accreditation in 2001.[10][11]
Artists and musicians
The assemblage artist Noah Purifoy moved to Joshua Tree in 1989 and spent his last 15 years building more than 100 outdoor sculptures from discarded objects on 10 acres. In 2001 county inspectors called the site a hazard and threatened to bulldoze it. The foundation instead reached an agreement with the county, cleaned up the site, and cabled the shakier pieces.[5] The museum is free and open every day from sunrise to sundown, on a graded dirt road north of town.[6] The musician Gram Parsons died at the Joshua Tree Inn on September 19, 1973, and fans still visit the inn.[7]
Living here now
Permits, code enforcement, and roads are county business, so a Town of Yucca Valley rule does not apply on this side of the line. Vacation rentals are a standing issue. In 2015, by one count, Joshua Tree had more than 1,000 vacation-rental permits, compared with about 100 in Twentynine Palms.[8] Many lots still run on wells or hauled water and septic. Ask about all three before you trust a listing.[2]