Chiriaco Summit, California

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Originally known as Shaver Summit, Chiriaco Summit is the high point of Box Canyon Road, a gravel road that paralleled the Bradshaw Trail from the Coachella Valley to Blythe. The land was purchased by Joe Chiriaco, an entrepreneur from Alabama. After traveling west to attend a college football game in the Rose Bowl in 1925, he decided to stay and found employment with the Los Angeles Bureau of Water and Power (now Los Angeles Department of Water and Power or LADWP). He heard of plans to pave Box Canyon Road, so he purchased Shaver Summit and broke ground on a service station and general store. The hearsay proved true, and on August 15, 1933, the same day that cars began traveling over the brand-new U.S. Route 60, Shaver Summit was open for business.

Even more bustle came to the area when construction began on the Colorado River Aqueduct in the mid-1930s. This project of epic scale, which brought water to Riverside from Lake Havasu, tunneled through the mountains north of town. Joe worked on the project as a surveyor. Around this time, he met his wife, Ruth, a nurse from the Coachella Valley.

In 1942, Joe had an unlikely visitor – General George S. Patton. Patton had the daunting task of training a million men to endure the harsh conditions of the Sahara in northern Africa, and he had found the right place – {{convert|18000|sqmi|km2}} of Mojave and Colorado Desert – the entire southeast corner of California and part of Arizona. The area would be known as the California/Arizona Maneuver Area (CAMA). Patton chose a site a mile east of Shaver Summit to establish the headquarters of his operation, Camp Young. During the time the base was active, Joe was visited by countless soldiers who were drawn “like bees to blossoms” to his well-stocked general store. Operations were conducted until 1944, when the Allies declared victory in the Sahara.

In 1945, after Patton died in a freak automobile accident in Germany, the Chiriacos established a memorial to him at the Summit.

In 1958, a post office was established, and the town was renamed Chiriaco Summit. The construction of Interstate 10 in the 1960s, replacing U.S. Route 60 and bypassing Box Canyon Road, meant that the Summit was no longer the only high point on the route, but the name stuck and remains to this day. A new post office supply depot opened in the 2000s and the zip codes "92201" and "9-2-0-1" designations went to represent Chiriaco Summit.{{cite web|url=https://tools.usps.com/go/ZipLookupResultsAction!input.action?resultMode=2&companyName=&address1=&address2=&city=&state=Select&urbanCode=&postalCode=92201&zip=|title= ZIP Code Lookup|website=USPS.com|accessdate=2012-11-04}}{{Clarify|date=May 2010}}

In 1989, the Bureau of Land Management and Patton’s estate expanded the Chiriacos' memorial and opened a museum on the site of Camp Young to honor Patton and interpret the history of the Desert Training Center. The centerpiece of the museum is “The Big Map,” a 5-ton jigsaw relief map created by LADWP depicting the area traversed by the Colorado River Aqueduct. The map, later used by Patton's staff, also illustrates the locations of the 11 training camps that comprised Patton’s mammoth operation. Also located at the museum is a statue of Patton, which can be seen from Interstate 10.

The Chiriacos both died in 1996. A Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to them in 2015.{{cite news|last1=Goolsby|first1=Denise|title=Desert pioneers Joe and Ruth Chiriaco get 380th star|url=https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2015/03/07/palm-springs-walk-stars-chiriaco-summit/24516789/|work=The Desert Sun|publisher=Gannett|date=March 15, 2015|location=Palm Springs, CA}} The businesses at Chiriaco Summit, which include a gas station, store, motel and airport, are now tended to by their son, Robert, and daughter, Margit. Chiriaco Summit Airport {{Airport codes|||L77}} has a {{convert|4600|ft|m|adj=on}} runway.

In 1999, electricity from the electrical grid finally reached Chiriaco Summit, freeing the town from its dependence on Diesel generators.

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Chiriaco Summit has a hot desert climate, abbreviated "BWh" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded in Chiriaco Summit was {{convert|118|F|C|1}} on June 22, 2016, while the coldest temperature recorded was {{convert|22|F|C|1}} on January 1, 2015.

{{Weather box

|location = Chiriaco Summit, California, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 2008–present

|single line = Yes

|Jan record high F = 84

|Feb record high F = 90

|Mar record high F = 95

|Apr record high F = 102

|May record high F = 108

|Jun record high F = 118

|Jul record high F = 114

|Aug record high F = 115

|Sep record high F = 116

|Oct record high F = 105

|Nov record high F = 91

|Dec record high F = 83

|Jan high F = 65.8

|Feb high F = 67.4

|Mar high F = 74.8

|Apr high F = 82.6

|May high F = 89.3

|Jun high F = 98.7

|Jul high F = 102.8

|Aug high F = 101.5

|Sep high F = 96.2

|Oct high F = 86.3

|Nov high F = 74.4

|Dec high F = 64.0

|year high F =

|Jan mean F = 52.9

|Feb mean F = 54.5

|Mar mean F = 60.2

|Apr mean F = 67.0

|May mean F = 73.7

|Jun mean F = 82.4

|Jul mean F = 88.4

|Aug mean F = 88.4

|Sep mean F = 82.0

|Oct mean F = 71.2

|Nov mean F = 60.3

|Dec mean F = 51.8

|year mean F =

|Jan low F = 40.0

|Feb low F = 41.6

|Mar low F = 45.6

|Apr low F = 51.4

|May low F = 58.2

|Jun low F = 66.2

|Jul low F = 74.1

|Aug low F = 75.4

|Sep low F = 67.8

|Oct low F = 56.0

|Nov low F = 46.3

|Dec low F = 39.7

|year low F =

|Jan record low F = 22

|Feb record low F = 24

|Mar record low F = 30

|Apr record low F = 36

|May record low F = 39

|Jun record low F = 49

|Jul record low F = 62

|Aug record low F = 57

|Sep record low F = 48

|Oct record low F = 34

|Nov record low F = 28

|Dec record low F = 26

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation inch = 0.82

|Feb precipitation inch = 0.87

|Mar precipitation inch = 0.45

|Apr precipitation inch = 0.16

|May precipitation inch = 0.09

|Jun precipitation inch = 0.01

|Jul precipitation inch = 0.29

|Aug precipitation inch = 0.35

|Sep precipitation inch = 0.51

|Oct precipitation inch = 0.20

|Nov precipitation inch = 0.27

|Dec precipitation inch = 0.58

|year precipitation inch = 4.60

|source 1 = NOAA

{{cite web

|url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&stations=USC00041738&format=pdf&dataTypes=MLY-TMAX-NORMAL,MLY-TMIN-NORMAL,MLY-TAVG-NORMAL,MLY-PRCP-NORMAL,MLY-SNOW-NORMAL

|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

|title = U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access – Station: Chiriaco Summit, CA

|access-date = March 26, 2023

}}

|source 2 = National Weather Service

{{cite web

|url = https://www.weather.gov/wrh/climate?wfo=psr

|publisher = National Weather Service

|title = NOAA Online Weather Data – NWS Phoenix

|access-date = March 26, 2023

}}

}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090107033643/http://www.chiriacosummit.com/history.php Community history]
• {{cite web|last=Howser|first=Huell|title=Chiriaco Summit – California's Gold (11013)|url=https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2009/01/14/chiriaco-summit-californias-gold-11013/|work=California's Gold|publisher=Chapman University Huell Howser Archive|authorlink=Huell Howser|date=January 14, 2009}}

{{Geographic location

|Centre = Chiriaco Summit

|North = Joshua Tree National Park
Eagle Mountains

|Northeast = Joshua Tree National Park
Eagle Mountains

|East = Desert Center

|Southeast = Orocopia Mountains

|South = Orocopia Mountains

|Southwest = Orocopia Mountains

|West = Indio

|Northwest = Joshua Tree National Park
Eagle Mountains

}}

{{Riverside County, California}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Unincorporated communities in Riverside County, California

Category:Populated places in the Colorado Desert

Category:Unincorporated communities in California