Back before the Cynic turned into a Nice Guy, he started a list of crappy towns. I believe, now, that I have found the winner.
Now, we’ve all heard the joke about cities with populations less than their elevation. We probably even all know a few of them. Generally, however, we don’t find cities with populations considerably less than 1/100th of their elevation.
Yes, friends, the city of Mountain Pass, California
is a community of thirty people (yes, the sign said 30, I wish I’d got a picture) cast among the crags of the mountains along the California-Nevada border along I-15. I say “cast,” because while the word I first thought of was “nestled,” it occurs to me that “nestling” implies some care, and this collection of homes surrounding a broken-down stone mill gives no such impression.
To boot, there are no services of any kind in Mountain Pass: not even a gas station. The closest gas station is 4 miles to the west, and gas there is a low-low $4.29/gal, and the closest market is in Baker, CA, a good 15-30 minutes to the west. Yes, Mountain Pass is the epitome of convenience!
With that, Scholl, please consider my addition to your list.