Spotted on an urbex forum earlier this year, this site started the research into locations around the Mojave and provided the inspiration to do a bit of exploring tacked onto a work trip. Was it worth a visit? Let’s find out.
The History
The short version is the site was constructed during the Korean War as an early warning radar installation in 1952. In the decades following, the radar was upgraded several times until 1973, when the Air Force vacated the site and left the radar for the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), which is still in use today.
In 1979, the abandoned housing was converted to a low security male prison, who built various vehicles for the armed forces. The prison shut down in 2000 and the site has been progressively trashed ever since.
Wikipedia has the full version here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boron_Air_Force_Station
The Visit
The photos I’d seen on forums was of an apocalyptic site, so I was half expecting some mutated creature to spring forth from some of the buildings but alas, I was mostly by myself. The houses were all vacated and trashed, which after 20 years in the desert and countless vandals desecrating the place, it is a small wonder anything remains. While on the visit, there was a group of motocrossers hooning about, and, the highlight of the visit, a fashion shoot being held in the middle of the derelict housing. Having lingerie clad models prancing about isn’t the usual experience on an urbex visit 😉
The FAA site at the top of the hill is guarded with cameras and razor wire, as an active government installation has every right to be, so be warned to steer clear of it. Everything else has been systematically trashed.
The Photos
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