"Beneath the surface of the valley floor lies an extensive system of aquifers, which for tens of thousands of years has collected runoff from the surrounding Tehachapi and San Gabriel Mountain ranges. In 1876, the presence of aquifer-fed springs in the area led the Southern Pacific Railroad to establish a watering station there."
"The town had the good fortune of being founded during an unusually rainy period in the valley's history. The seeming abundance of water that fell from the sky and could be pumped from the ground led to Lancaster and environs becoming a major agricultural center."
"A crippling decade-long drought brought an abrupt end to the uncharacteristically Edenic conditions in 1894. Ranching and farming all but ceased until the opening of the Los Angeles Aqueduct brought a new source to irrigate the valley in 1913."
"In the 1930s, the Army Air Corps opened Muroc Air Base outside of town, the first step toward the defense and aerospace industry's dominance of the Lancaster economy. After World War II, the facility was renamed Edwards Air Force Base."
Lancaster was established in 1876 as a Southern Pacific Railroad watering station in the Antelope Valley high desert, supplied by extensive underground aquifer systems fed by mountain runoff. The town grew around the station as hotels and railroad housing attracted settlers. Founded during an unusually wet period, Lancaster became a major agricultural center with cattle ranches, bean and barley fields, and almond groves. A decade-long drought in 1894 devastated farming until the Los Angeles Aqueduct arrived in 1913, restoring irrigation. The 1930s Army Air Corps establishment of Muroc Air Base, later renamed Edwards Air Force Base, shifted the economy toward defense and aerospace industries.
#lancaster-history #water-resources-and-aquifers #agricultural-development #aerospace-and-defense-industry #desert-settlement
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