Cadiz Summit

Cadiz, was a water stop named by Lewis Kingman, a civil engineer and surveyor, in 1883 who was surveying a route for what was to become the second transcontinental railroad. It was one of a series of alphabetically named railroad water stops built across the Mojave Desert (Amboy, Bristol, Cadiz, Danby, Essex, Fenner, Goffs and so on). In 1931 when Route 66 was realigned, George & Minnie Tienken moved their business from the town of Cadiz north-northeast to Cadiz Summit, the gap in the mountains located about halfway between Amboy and Essex. By the 1940s a gas station, garage, cabins, and cafe were operating at the summit provideding a comfortable all services rest stop for the weary traveler. In 1972 when the Interstate 40 was built Cadiz lost its purpose and the business and buildings were abandoned. All that remains at this point is crumbled and badly vandalized concrete ruins.




















W. Feller photos -- 2001