I Own This Town: The Dusty California Town of Eagle Mountain Bought by a Mysterious Owner for $22.5 Million
Mysterious buyer seizes dusty California ghost town for $22.5 million, complete with abandoned bowling alley and cafe where inmates stayed until a deadly riot broke out during the 2003 World Series
- Eagle Mountain, which has not existed since the 1980s, was recently bought for $22.5 million by a mysterious company
- The company, Ecology Mountain Holdings, reportedly has ties to a company known for its red big rigs, but little is officially known about the buyer
- The once prosperous town was home to a bustling community based on jobs at the local steel mine
A ghost town in the California desert was bought by a mysterious buyer for a striking $22.5 million.
Eagle Mountain, a once-thriving community on the border of California’s Joshua Tree National Park, was recently purchased by a company called Ecology Mountain Holdings.
There isn’t much public information about the company other than its business address in Cerritos, California.
According to SFGATEthe company is associated with Ecology Transportation Services, a company known for its red big rigs – the front part of a tractor-trailer.
A For Sale sign has been posted for the abandoned town of ‘Eagle Mountain’ in Desert Center, California, as the town was recently sold for $22.5 million
The town was purchased from an Ontario, California company called Eagle Mountain Acquisition LLC, which was apparently the last of several Kaiser subsidiaries to own the town over the past 40 years.
The city was last a thriving business town in 1983 when most of the area’s population worked for the Kaiser Steel mine.
The once prosperous city was home to a bustling community of homes, businesses, and a high school.
The city’s decline began in the 1970s with staff cuts at Kaiser that eventually led to its closure four decades ago.
After the mine closed, Eagle Mountain became home to a doomed low-security prison called the Eagle Mountain Community Correctional Facility, which opened in 1988.
The town’s former bowling alley, cafe, and other buildings housed 438 inmates serving time for parole violations and other nonviolent offenses.
The private prison promoted the career development of prisoners and reduced recidivism rates. In 1992, the Press-Enterprise wrote of the prison that it “brought a ghost town back to life.”
In October 2003, a riot occurred while inmates watched the World Series in the prison’s recreation room. Two prisoners died and eight were later charged with murder.
The town was last a thriving business town in 1983 when most of the area’s population worked for the Kaiser Steel mine
Ecology Mountain Holdings purchased the town, but little is known about the company or its plans. Reports indicate it is connected to Ecology Transportation Services, a company known for its red big rigs – the front part of a tractor-trailer
A possible hint as to who bought the town and what the plans are for it is that trucking magnate Balwinder S. Wraich bought more than 1,000 acres of Desert Center in 2021 – a town that shares a road with Eagle Mountain.
Wraich works with the Wraich Transport company in nearby Fontana and has previously explained its plan for the area.
“We are going to develop a truck stop, gas station and hotel,” he told SFGATE.
“There’s no food for 40 miles. My goal is to achieve something big within two years. It’s going to help the community.”