"Desert Steve” Ragsdale was one of the many colorful people who have called Riverside County their home over the past 100 years. Desert Steve is known for founding and operating the small town of Desert Center, that is located between Indio and Blythe in the state of California. But his reputation far exceeded that.
Ragsdale was an wandering preacher and cotton farmer, born and raised in Arkansas. In 1907, he and his wife Lydia came to the Palo Verde Valley on the Colorado River to raise cotton. But after World War I the price of cotton plummeted and he was forced to quit.
At that point, in 1921, he decided to move west into the Chuckawalla Valley and start a way station for travelers on the rough and sandy road from Indio to Blythe. He called his place Desert Center, since it was about halfway between the two locations at the junction of today's Interstate 10 and State Route 177.
Here, Desert Steve began a garage and service station, car towing business, and café, that was operated by his wife Lydia.
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28 сен 2024
