Mojave | |
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Census designated place | |
LADWP Mojave District Headquarters
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Location in Kern County and the state of California |
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Location in the United States | |
Coordinates: 35°03′09″N 118°10′26″W / 35.05250°N 118.17389°WCoordinates: 35°03′09″N 118°10′26″W / 35.05250°N 118.17389°W | |
Country | United States |
State | California |
County | Kern |
Government | |
• State senator | Jean Fuller (R) |
• Assemblymember | Tom Lackey (R) |
• U. S. rep. | Kevin McCarthy (R) |
Area | |
• Total | 58.375 sq mi (151.188 km2) |
• Land | 58.29 sq mi (150.969 km2) |
• Water | 0.085 sq mi (0.219 km2) 0.14% |
Elevation | 2,762 ft (842 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 4,238 |
• Density | 73/sq mi (28/km2) |
Time zone | PST (UTC-8) |
• Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) |
ZIP codes | 93501, 93502, 93519 |
Area code(s) | 661 |
FIPS code | 06-48452 |
GNIS feature ID | 1652752 |
Website | http://www.visitmojave.com/ |
Mojave (formerly, Mohave) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California, United States. Mojave is located 50 miles (80 km) east of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 2762 feet (842 m). The town is located in Antelope Valley, at the southwestern region of the Mojave Desert, below and east of Oak Creek Pass and the Tehachapi Mountains.
The population was 4,238 at the 2010 census, up from 3,836 at the 2000 census. Telephone numbers in Mojave follow the format (661) 824-xxxx and the area includes three postal ZIP Codes.
The town of Mojave began in 1876 as a construction camp on the Southern Pacific Railroad. From 1884 to 1889, the town was the western terminus of the 165-mile (266 km), twenty-mule team borax wagon route originating at Harmony Borax Works in Death Valley. It later served as headquarters for construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct.
Located near Edwards Air Force Base, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, and Palmdale Regional Airport, Mojave has a rich aerospace history as well. Besides being a general-use public airport, Mojave has three main areas of activity: flight testing, space industry development, and aircraft heavy maintenance and storage. The closet airfield to the city, formerly known as the Mojave Airport, is now part of the Mojave Air and Space Port.
In 1935, Kern County established the Mojave Airport a half mile east of town to serve the gold and silver mining industry in the area. The airport consisted of two dirt runway, one of which was oiled, but it lacked any fueling or servicing facilities. In 1941, the Civil Aeronautics Board began improvements to the airport for national defense purposes that included two 4,500 x 150-ft. asphalt runways and adjacent taxiway. Kern County agreed the airport could be taken over by the military in the event of war.