Rice, California
Encyclopedia
Rice, California is a vacant town site
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

 in the southern tip of the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...

 in unincorporated
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 San Bernardino County
San Bernardino County, California
San Bernardino County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,035,210, up from 1,709,434 as of the 2000 census...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

History

The town, located on present-day State Route 62
California State Route 62
State Route 62 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California.-Route description:This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System...

 approximately midway between Twentynine Palms
Twentynine Palms, California
Twentynine Palms is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It was previously called Twenty-Nine Palms...

 and the Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

 state line, sprang up around a Santa Fe Railroad subdivision and siding. The subdivision and siding are still in use, but have since changed hands and currently belong to the Arizona and California Railroad, a short line serving southeastern California from Rice to Cadiz, California
Cadiz, California
Cadiz is a small unincorporated community in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California. It is located just south of the Marble Mountains near the National Trails Highway. Cadiz is home to a former railroad stop, and is situated at 34° 31' 12" North latitude and 115° 30' 43" West...

 and southwestern Arizona at Parker
Parker, Arizona
Parker is a town in and the county seat of La Paz County, Arizona, United States, on the Colorado River in Parker Valley. The population was 3,140 at the 2000 census.-History:...

.

Rice Army Airfield/Rice Airport

The Rice Municipal Airport was acquired by the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

's 4th Air Support Command in 1942 as a sub-base of Thermal Army Airfield, and was operational by the end of the year. While the airfield's actual date of construction is unknown, it was not depicted on a 1932 Los Angeles Airways Chart, indicating construction sometime in the ten years between 1932 and 1942. Rice Army Airfield
Rice Army Airfield
Rice Army Airfield is an abandoned World War II airfield located east-southeast of Rice, California, United States...

 consisted of 2 paved 5,000 foot runways and numerous dispersal pads extending beyond the runways to the south. In 1944, the airfield was transferred away from Thermal Army Airfield as a sub-base and assigned to March Field. Operations at Rice Field were ended by August 1944, and the field was declared surplus
Military surplus
Military surplus are goods, usually matériel, that are sold or otherwise disposed of when no longer needed by the military. Entrepreneurs often buy these goods and resell them at surplus stores. Military surplus rarely includes weapons or munitions, though they are occasionally found in such stores...

 in late October of that same year. The base was considered the best location to detonate the first atomic bomb; but White Sands Proving Ground was selected for the Trinity (nuclear test) because Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...

 manager Leslie Groves
Leslie Groves
Lieutenant General Leslie Richard Groves, Jr. was a United States Army Corps of Engineers officer who oversaw the construction of the Pentagon and directed the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb during World War II. As the son of a United States Army chaplain, Groves lived at a...

 did not want to deal with base commanding general George S. Patton
George S. Patton
George Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army officer best known for his leadership while commanding corps and armies as a general during World War II. He was also well known for his eccentricity and controversial outspokenness.Patton was commissioned in the U.S. Army after his graduation from...

.

Rice Shoe Tree

Rice gained some minor notoriety in recent years because of the Rice Shoe Tree, a lone tamarisk on a turnout just south of the highway. For reasons unknown, it became customary for travelers on Highway 62 (also known as Rice Road) to and from the Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...

 to hang an old shoe on the tree's branches. The tree was even featured on California's Gold
California's Gold
California's Gold is a public television travel program that explores the numerous natural, cultural and historical wonders of the Golden State. The show, now in its 17th year, is produced and hosted by Huell Howser...

, a PBS program hosted by Huell Howser
Huell Howser
Huell Burnley Howser is an American television personality best known for California's Gold, his travel show for the Los Angeles based KCET.-Early career:...

. The Rice Shoe Tree burned to the ground in 2003 in a fire of suspicious origin. Though the tree is gone, a 'shoe garden' has replaced it; a fence on which people hang shoes instead. Travelers still stop to spell their names on the nearby Arizona and California Railroad right-of-way with the multi-colored volcanic rock used as ballast. Hand-assembled graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....

 lines the railroad for the entire distance that it parallels Highway 62.

Currently (July 2010) at the site of the old service station and shoe fence, there is a movie being filmed. There are rumors going around that they have cleaned up the shoe fence and painted over the "Freedom Warriors" sign on the water tower near the railroad tracks.

Present day

At some point in the 4 years following the airfield's removal from active Army service, Rice Army Airfield was renamed Rice Airport and began operations as a public civilian airport, housing a small flight school for missionaries. Between the years of 1952 to 1955, Rice Airport was changed to a private field, and later abandoned before 1960 for reasons unknown. As of 2007, no standing structures remain and little evidence exists of the airport's former existence.

There are no standing buildings and no residents in Rice at present. A hand-painted sign on the western outskirts of the town once announced that the townsite was for sale, but that sign has since been removed. The only building which remains in any condition is a demolished service station.

External links



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