Needles, California

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Needles redirects here. For other uses of needle, see Needle.

Needles is a city located on the western banks of the Colorado River in San Bernardino County, California. It is in the Mojave Valley, which straddles the California-Arizona border. The city is accessible via Interstate 40 and U.S. Route 95. The population was 4,830 at the 2000 census. Needles was named after "The Needles", a group of pointed rocks on the Arizona side of the river. There is a small Mohave Native American population; however, the town is mostly Caucasian.

1 History
2 Demographics
3 Rail Transportation
4 Popular culture references
5 External links
6 Categories

History

"Ancient petroglyphs, pictographs, intaglios, old trails and stone work sites bear witness to those who came from an earlier time." (Needles Chamber of Commerce)

Mohave people had been living in the area for hundreds, if not thousands, of years prior to the European exploration of the area. In 1859, Fort Mojave was built to protect immigrants to California and other travelers from the Mohave. [1]

The city was founded in 1883 as a result of the construction of the railroad, which crosses the Colorado at this point. The name is derived from pointed mountain peaks at the south end of the valley.

John Lorimer was the first mayor of Needles. John's son Robert Burns Lorimer established the first Volunteer fire department.

Historic Route 66 passes through the city, lined with motels and other shops from that era. Needles is a tourism and recreation center, a tradition going back for decades.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 78.1 km² (30.2 mi²). 77.1 km² (29.8 mi²) of it is land and 1.1 km² (0.4 mi²) of it (1.36%) is water.

Nearby cities include Bullhead City, Arizona, Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and Laughlin, Nevada.

Needles, like Death Valley, is known for extreme heat during the summers. Temperatures in Needles routinely reach 120°F (49 ° C) in late July and early August, and Needles occasionally sets national or world daily high temperature records.

On July 17, 2005, the high temperature at Needles was 125 degrees Fahrenheit (51.6 degrees celsius), the warmest temperature ever recorded since record keeping began in 1940, breaking the previous all-time record high of 123 degrees four days earlier (which prior to that, broke the all-time high of 122 which was set on July 2, 1967).

Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 4,830 people, 1,940 households, and 1,268 families residing in the city. The population density was 62.6/km² (162.3/mi²). There were 2,551 housing units at an average density of 33.1/km² (85.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 77.87% White, 1.61% African American, 7.00% Native American, 1.43% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 6.38% from other races, and 5.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 18.36% of the population.

There were 1,940 households out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were married couples living together, 16.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.6% were non-families. 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.6% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 23.6% from 25 to 44, 25.6% from 45 to 64, and 15.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 96.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $26,108, and the median income for a family was $33,264. Males had a median income of $39,688 versus $19,483 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,156. About 21.2% of families and 26.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 38.2% of those under age 18 and 11.3% of those age 65 or over.

Major employment in the city is supported by the Santa Fe Railroad. The depot has been a terminal (crew change point) for the railway since the late 1800's. The railroad company has been the city's main employment source for decades.

The once smaller nearby communities of Bullhead City, Arizona and Laughlin, Nevada have in recent years become larger communities than Needles.

Rail Transportation

Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides daily service to Needles, operating its Southwest Chief between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California.

Popular culture references

In the comic strip Peanuts, created by Charles Schultz who lived in Needles, California as a boy, often cartooned Snoopy's brother Spike living in the desert outside Needles. He frequently heads to Needles to partake of the town's nightlife, often running afoul of the local coyotes.

Movies shot in Needles:

Convoy (1978)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

The town is also mentioned in the lyrics of Hoyt Axton's "Never Been To Spain"; the song was a hit for Three Dog Night in 1972.

The Needles weather station is frequently reported by the United State government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as the site of the highest daily temperature recorded in the U.S. during the hot desert summers.

Needles (and the surrounding area) was the scene for the hit 1988 post-nuclear war apocalyptic computer RPG Wasteland (computer game).

April 11, 1992: the 38-year old comedian Sam Kinison was killed in a head-on car crash in Needles, California. His newlywed wife was also critically injured.