Antelope Valley

The Antelope Valley is a wide desert area in southern California. It is mostly in northern Los Angeles County, California and reaches into the southeast part of Kern County. This valley is the western edge of the big Mojave Desert and is surrounded by three mountain ranges: the Tehachapi, Sierra Pelona, and the San Gabriel Mountains.

Long ago, the valley was home to many pronghorn antelope, which gave it its name. Sadly, by the 1880s, all the pronghorns in the area were gone because people hunted them. Today, the two biggest cities in the Antelope Valley are Palmdale and Lancaster, where many people live and work.

Geography

The Antelope Valley is the western part of the Mojave Desert. It opens up to the Victor Valley and the Great Basin to the east. It lies north of the San Gabriel Mountains, southeast of the Tehachapis, and northeast of the Sierra Pelona Mountains. This desert area covers about 2,200 square miles. Rain in the nearby mountains helps fill the area's water supply.

Street grid

In the part of the Antelope Valley that is in Los Angeles County, many streets are set out every mile. Avenues go east to west, and streets go north to south. The grid starts at Avenue A, with each next avenue one mile apart. From Division Street, the north-south streets increase by ten with each mile. Some streets, such as Sierra Highway, Pearblossom Highway, and Fort Tejon Road, do not follow this grid.

Flora and fauna

The Antelope Valley has many different plants and animals. You can find plants like the California juniper, Joshua tree, California scrub oak, creosote, and beautiful California poppy wildflowers. When winter rains come, they help grasses and wildflowers grow.

The valley was named after the pronghorn animals that used to live there. Sadly, many of them died or moved away because of heavy snow, hunting, and drought. Today, it is rare to see a pronghorn, though a few still remain in the western part of the valley.

Other animals you might see include mule deer, mountain quail, golden-mantled ground squirrel, Beechey ground squirrel, red-tailed hawk, Cooper's hawk, Stellar's jay, leopard frog, and rattlesnake.

Human history

The Antelope Valley has been home to many native groups, including the Kawaiisu, Kitanemuk, Serrano, and Tataviam. Europeans arrived in the 1770s when North America was being settled. A Spanish priest named Francisco Garcés explored the western part of the valley in 1776. The Spanish built a road called El Camino Viejo through the valley in the 1780s.

Later, famous explorers like Jedediah Smith and John C. Fremont visited the area. After Fremont, many people traveled through the valley to gold fields. In 1876, a railroad was built, helping more people move to the valley. Over time, farms, towns, and an important airplane factory grew there. The valley was once part of Mexico and was named for the many antelope that lived there.

Demographics

The Antelope Valley has become a place where many people live but work in the bigger Greater Los Angeles area. Starting in 1983, many new homes were built. By 2006, the population of Palmdale had grown about twelve times bigger. Nearby Lancaster also grew to about three times its old size. As more people moved in, shops and stores grew too, especially around Palmdale's Antelope Valley Mall. Today, the area where Lancaster and Palmdale are located has about 372,287 people.

Many people in the Antelope Valley speak languages other than English at home. Spanish and Tagalog are the most common languages spoken besides English. The valley has many people whose families come from places like Mexico and the Philippines. In some parts of the valley, German and English are the most common family roots, while in other parts, families often come from Mexico or El Salvador.

Military base

Main article: Edwards Air Force Base

Edwards Air Force Base is east of Rosamond, about 37 miles northeast of Palmdale. The area is special because of its dry lakebeds, the lowest points in the valley. Many important test flights for the U.S. military happen here, including the first flight that broke the sound barrier, flown by Chuck Yeager.

NASA Space Shuttles used to land at Edwards because the lake beds provided a big, open space to land. Even though NASA now has its own landing strip at Kennedy Space Center, Edwards is still kept ready for when weather at Cape Canaveral is not good.

The NASA Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center works at Edwards Air Force Base. This center is known for studying high-performance aircraft, starting with the X-15 experimental rocket ship. It was also where Space Shuttle orbiters were checked after landing at Edwards.

Industry

Aerospace

U. S. Air Force Plant 42 in northeast Palmdale is home to Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and BAE Systems, along with other companies that work with airplanes and space travel. Important airplanes and spacecraft made there include the Space Shuttle orbiters, B-1 Lancer bombers, B-2 Spirit bombers, F-117 Nighthawk fighters, F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, and Lockheed L-1011 Tristar passenger jets.

The area also has the Mojave Air and Space Port. This special airport is where Scaled Composites designed SpaceShipOne and won the X-Prize.

Much of the work at these places is done with help from Edwards Air Force Base and the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. They work together to create new airplane ideas, test space shuttles, and build new military airplanes.

Because so many airplane and space companies are there, Antelope Valley is sometimes called the Aerospace Valley.

Agriculture

The valley's first big job when it became part of the United States was agriculture. It used to be famous for its big fields of alfalfa and fruit, but now farmers grow many different crops like carrots, onions, lettuce, and potatoes. As more houses are built in the middle of the valley, farms are moving to the west and east sides.

Electricity generation

The northern part of Antelope Valley is part of the Tehachapi Wind Resource Area, the biggest area for wind power in California. The valley also has many solar farms, some of the biggest in the United States.

Manufacturing

• U.S. Pole Company Inc.
• Senior Systems Technology
• Delta Scientific
• Lance Camper Manufacturing Corporation
• Harvest Farms Inc.
• BYD Company

Mining

The world's biggest open-pit borax mine is near Boron.

Education

Colleges and universities

The Antelope Valley Community College District has two campuses. The main campus, Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, offers two-year degrees and many certificate programs. It also has a location of California State University, Bakersfield-Antelope Valley where students can earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Other universities have campuses in the area, including California State University Bakersfield, University of Phoenix, University of La Verne, DeVry University, Chapman University, and the AERO Institute in Palmdale, which works with many universities to offer aerospace education.

High schools

The Antelope Valley Union High School District is the main public school district for high schools in Palmdale and Lancaster. It includes eight regular high schools, continuation schools, a trade school, and a special early college school. Some of the high schools are Antelope Valley High School, Eastside High School, Highland High School, Lancaster High School, Littlerock High School, Palmdale High School, Pete Knight High School, and Quartz Hill High School.

Other districts serve nearby areas, including the Southern Kern Unified School District in Rosamond, the Muroc Joint Unified School District for Edwards Air Force Base and nearby communities, and the Mojave Unified School District for Mojave and California City.

School districts

The largest school district is the Palmdale School District. The Lancaster School District is the third largest, covering much of central Lancaster. Other districts include the Westside Union School District, Eastside Union School District, and Keppel Union School District, each serving different parts of the Antelope Valley.

Culture

The Antelope Valley Symphony Orchestra is a group of professional musicians. They give four concerts each year at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center. They work with Antelope Valley College and often play with the Antelope Valley College Civic Orchestra.

In popular culture

Antelope Valley Indian Museum State Historic Park has been in some movies. These include The Magnificent Seven Ride! from 1972 and The Stone Killer from 1973. Parts of Mackenna's Gold from 1964 were also filmed there. The music video for the R.E.M. song "Man on the Moon" was made in Antelope Valley in October 1992.

Parks

The Antelope Valley has many lovely parks and reserves to visit.

• Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, home to California's state flower
• Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland State Park
• Antelope Valley Indian Museum State Historic Park
• Saddleback Butte State Park
• Devil's Punchbowl County Park

Hospitals

The Antelope Valley has two major hospitals: Antelope Valley Hospital and Palmdale Regional Medical Center.

There used to be a county hospital called High Desert Hospital. It was turned into an urgent care clinic in 2003 due to money problems. Now, patients with serious but not life-threatening conditions need to travel over 50 miles (80 km) to Olive View – UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar for treatment.

Transportation

Major highways

The Antelope Valley has many important roads. The Angeles Forest Highway connects Palmdale to the Angeles Crest Highway, helping people get to Los Angeles. The Antelope Valley Freeway, or State Route 14, is a main road in the area.

Other key roads are State Route 18, linking east of Palmdale to Victor Valley and U.S. Route 395. Plans exist to improve this as a freeway. The Pearblossom Highway is part of State Route 138. State Route 58 connects the Antelope Valley to Bakersfield and Barstow. U.S. Route 395 also runs east of the valley.

Rail

The Union Pacific Railroad brings freight trains through the Antelope Valley, traveling between Palmdale and Mojave. The BNSF Railway also serves Mojave with freight trains.

Metrolink runs passenger trains to Los Angeles and Southern California, stopping in Lancaster, Palmdale, and Vincent Grade/Acton. Amtrak has a commuter bus that connects to national rail service at the Palmdale Transportation Center and the Lancaster Metrolink station. In the future, Palmdale might stop for the high-speed rail line between San Francisco and San Diego.

Bus

The Antelope Valley Transit Authority runs city buses in Palmdale and Lancaster, plus commuter buses to Los Angeles. Greyhound Bus stops at the Palmdale Transportation Center and the Lancaster Metrolink station.

Airports

The biggest airport in the valley is the Palmdale Regional Airport, mostly used for military flights but it also has a commercial terminal that is not in use.

The General William J. Fox Airfield in Lancaster is the busiest general aviation airport, offering charter flights and helicopter rides, plus an aviation school.

Other airports include Inyokern Airport with some flights to Los Angeles International Airport, Mojave Air & Space Port where famous aircraft like Voyager and SpaceShipOne were built, Mountain Valley Airport for glider training, Tehachapi Municipal Airport, Agua Dulce Airpark, Rosamond Skypark Airport, California City Municipal Airport, and Crystalaire Airport for glider flights.

Notable people

The Antelope Valley has been home to many famous people. Some well-known individuals include members of the 1990s R&B group All-4-One, actor and stunt performer Erik Audé, and aviator Pancho Barnes. Other famous residents have been musicians like Spade Cooley and Frank Zappa, as well as actors such as R. Lee Ermey and Tippi Hedren. The valley has also been home to sports figures like NBA player Paul George and aviation pioneers like Chuck Yeager. Many of these people became well-known in different fields while living in or near the Antelope Valley.

Cities and communities

The Antelope Valley has many interesting places to visit. Lancaster is the largest city and once had snow in December 2008. Palmdale is another big city, and you can see the San Gabriel Mountains from there near SR 14. Rosamond is the third-largest community, and California City is growing with new neighborhoods. Lake Los Angeles is famous for filming movies, and you might spot an F-35 Lightning II airplane taking off from Edwards Air Force Base.