Essex - California Historic Route 66 Association

Essex was once a Santa Fe Railroad stop, and a small town servicing Route 66 travelers. Its final decline followed the opening of Interstate 40 in 1974. Today there are no businesses, only a CalTrans maintenance yard and some mailboxes in front of the old post office, for the few scattered residents still living in this area of the Mojave Desert. The nearest operating business is Najah's Desert Oasis, a gas station stop east of Essex where Route 66 crosses I-40 - an area known as Fenner.
An old well built by the Automobile Club of Southern California once provided free water to travelers.
North and northeast of Essex lie Camp Clipper and Camp Essex, parts of the US Army's Desert Training Center during World War II. Camp Clipper also briefly held Italian POWs before closing in 1944. The runway and aircraft parking pads of Camp Essex Army Airfield are visible from Route 66 east of the town.
As one of the last towns in the U.S. without television reception in 1977, its entire population at that time - about 50 residents - were invited to attend a taping of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, where some townspeople were interviewed. Shortly afterward, a new translator station was built which finally brought television to Essex - a gift to the residents by the translator's manufacturer.
To the west, visitors can spot unique public rock art created along Route 66.

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