The next chapter for Baker’s famed thermometer includes many possibilities
Your morning catch-up: Change is on the way for Baker’s thermometer, L.A.’s water system is super old and more big stories.
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Residents of the 15 Freeway desert outpost of Baker, Calif., located about 94 miles southwest of Las Vegas and 175 miles northeast of Los Angeles, know it’s perpetually hot in their sun-drenched town.
For further verification of just how sweltering the day is, though, they can also peer toward their colossus: the 134-foot “World‘s Tallest Thermometer.”
The “Gateway to Death Valley” will range from a low of 111 degrees to a high of 118 over the next week.
While temperatures are only going up this summer, so too is hope for the thermometer’s future.
The 35-year-old monument went up for sale in May for $1.85 million, leaving a town wondering if there would be takers for an icon whose fate often mirrored that of the desert oasis.
The real estate agent for the family that owns the thermometer spoke with Essential California and assured fans that there has been interest and sale negotiations are underway.
Let’s jump into that chat.
So, why is there a thermometer in Baker?
The metal, glass and plastic gauge was a passion project for Baker businessman Willis Herron.
“For 25 years I’ve had this dream of putting up the world’s tallest thermometer,” Herron told The Times in 1991, “because people pulling off the freeway in the heat of summer are always making remarks like: ‘Whew! It’s hotter ‘n hell. How hot is it anyway?’”
Herron placed the thermometer next to his restaurant, the now long-shuttered Bun Boy, hoping travelers would find the attraction novel enough to stop and patronize.
The lore behind 134 feet
The $750,000 thermometer rose in 1991, collapsed in a sandstorm shortly after and was resurrected in 1992.
The thermometer stands 13 stories or 134 feet tall to commemorate the hottest recorded temperature on earth, 134 degrees at nearby Greenland Ranch in Death Valley on July 10, 1913.
The thermometer once blasted 4,900 bulbs so bright that Herron, who lived across the street, was forced to close his window shades.
Close to a sale
Los Angeles-based real estate agent Baron Castillo says the still functioning thermometer has four legitimate interested buyers from Las Vegas and Los Angeles and expects a completed sale within 60 days.
The updated price of $1.85 million includes 4.31 acres of land that could be used for anything, including storage space and solar panels.
“Right now, it’s just a matter of all parties doing their due diligence,” Castillo said. “There’s several ways the property could be developed, whether that’s retail, a store or a coffee shop, and there’s even a good-sized freezer included. It just depends on what they want to do with it.”
One bright idea
The one business Castillo doesn’t anticipate, however, is a data center, since those entities generally require much more territory, he said.
Castillo believes the biggest need in Baker is charging stations. He noted that the town hosts only four such electrical chargers, often leading to long lines for the millions of annual drivers who traverse between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
“You could have a project where you could construct several charging stations, charging vehicles between 20 to 45 minutes,” Castillo said. “In between that time, they could stop by your microbrewery or restaurant. There really are possibilities here.”
The week’s biggest stories
Los Angeles’ aging water infrastructure
- The Los Angeles water system is old, and money for replacements is exceedingly scarce.
- Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has no choice but to focus on the lines it believes are most likely to blow.
- Opinion: In L.A.’s underground, the public servants are 80, 90 and 100. It’s tough getting old.
Arson and fire
- A mural at the site of a Jewish temple that burned in the Eaton fire was vandalized with swastikas, antisemitic graffiti.
- The incident took place Friday on the 1400 block of North Altadena Drive in the unincorporated area near Pasadena.
- The man who caused the Park fire, one of the largest in California history, was convicted of arson.
Crime, courts and policing
- Singer D4vd’s phone shows teen Celeste Rivas Hernandez was pregnant and had an abortion before her killing, a detective testifies.
- An LAPD detective testified Friday that a phone belonging to the singer D4vd contained photos of sexual abuse.
- A SoCal woman was convicted of murder for supplying a lethal fentanyl dose.
- A Northern California man drank all day then drove into a tree at 101 mph with a car full of people.
Los Angeles City Power
- Though street homelessness went up in Los Angeles, it was cut nearly in half in Councilwoman Nithya Raman’s district.
- People living outdoors or in their vehicles went down by 49% in Raman’s district compared to the previous year, she said Friday.
- The completely unofficial L.A. City Council power rankings.
What else is going on
- Paramount’s Warner Bros. merger suddenly looks less certain.
- Trump returns to correspondents’ dinner for a rambling, insult-filled speech.
- Lineage Logistics fined for flies, smell and ‘unsanitary’ conditions after its Boyle Heights warehouse fire.
Must-read
Oskar Eustis, who’s stepping down as the artistic director of New York’s Public Theater in 2028, shook up the arts world with his comment that the American nonprofit theater movement was over. He explains why and what needs to be done to move on.
Other must-reads
- Home owners got their L.A. rentals ready for the World Cup. For some, it absolutely paid off.
- ‘Fast & Furious’ coaster screams rattle quiet neighborhood: ‘Like someone is getting murdered.’
- Opinion: How Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis forever changed comedy.
- Opinion: 5 reasons the Dodgers should not go back to the White House again next year.
For your downtime
Going out
- Sunday, Funday: ‘Descendants ‘actor Kylie Cantrall shares her perfect Sunday, including a hike on Fryman Canyon.
- Taco quest: A former Las Vegas casino chef built L.A.’s viral new taco stand.
- One last visit: Beloved Orange County staple Wind & Sea is closing after serving 50 years of mai tais.
- Movie Review: ‘Sheep in the Box’ is a rare misfire from a master director whose AI drama feels borrowed.
Staying in
- A wonderful read: That coyote down your street? It’s trapped in the city. This book explains how.
- Television review: ‘Stuart Fails to Save the Universe’ is an out-of-this-world comedy.
- Television review: ‘Pompeii: Out of Time With Tom Hiddleston’ brings a dead city back to life.
- 🍨 Here’s a recipe for roasted apple ice cream.
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and jigsaw games.
L.A. Affairs
Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.
At grocery stores throughout L.A., men in their 80s flirt away with me, wanting more than the weekly supermarket specials.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Hailey Branson-Potts, staff reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew J. Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
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