Slab City
According to Wikipedia, Slab City is largely a snowbird community in the Sonoran Desert that took its name from concrete slabs that remained from the abandoned World War II Marine Corps barracks of Camp Dunlap. Several thousand campers, many of them retired, use the site during the winter months but there is a group of around 150 permanent residents who live there year round. Some of these "Slabbers" derive their living from government programs and have been driven to "The Slabs" by poverty. Others have moved there to learn how to live off the grid and be left alone or to stretch their retirement income.
The site is both decommissioned and uncontrolled, and there is no charge for parking. The site has no official electricity, running water, sewers, toilets or trash pickup service. Many residents use generators or solar panels to generate electricity. The closest body of civilization with proper law enforcement is approximately four miles southwest in Niland where the residents often go to do basic shopping. As a result, the site is described by its inhabitants and news outlets like Vice News as a miniature de facto enclave of anarchy.
Salvation Mountain
Salvation Mountain is a visionary environment covering a hill near Slab City created by local resident Leonard Knight (1931–2014). The artwork is made from adobe, straw, and thousands of gallons of lead-free latex paint. It encompasses numerous murals and areas painted with Christian sayings and Bible verses, though its philosophy was built around the Sinner's Prayer. The Folk Art Society of America declared it "a folk art site worthy of preservation and protection" in the year 2000.
