14 messages---------------------------Johnnie
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: [log in to unmask] (Justin the Blue)
: Re: Place Name Mystery
: Fri, 5 May 1995 01:46:20 -0700 (PDT)
>
> Five gold stars to anyone who can solve this place name mystery. I
> have a patron (professor) who is looking for a place called:
>
> Zzyzx
>
> No clue as to where in the world this place is....
Try New Mexico, the good 'ol USA.
I have a good friend who came out of there, and makes trips down
to Albuquerque. If memory serves, she showed me a photo of an
Interstate exit marker proclaiming "Zzyzx Rd". If I'm right,
it would be off the I-40.
Most likely that would be somewhere west of Albuquerque.
If I'm wrong, I'll ask her again; I'd swear she showed me a
photo of this, though. Good luck.
...Justin the Blue
--
As Seen On | Justin the Blue...SunDial Earth Station...K #11
___ _ _ | [log in to unmask]
| \ / | Fantasy Cartographer/Street Map Cartographer for Hire
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: Thu, 4 May 1995 23:12:19 -0700 (PDT)
: KATHERINE RANKIN <[log in to unmask]>
: Re: Place Name Mystery
Zzyzx is a sort of health spa in the desert in the area near Las Vegas,
Nev. I think it may actually be across the border in California. I
believe the person who started it was an eccentric, and that it is closed
now. I'll try to find out more about it for you.
Kathy Rankin
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Kathy Rankin Phone: (702) 895-3062
Special Formats Catalog Librarian FAX: (702) 895-1207
University of Nevada, Las Vegas Internet: [log in to unmask]
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: Thu, 4 May 95 22:20:26 EDT
: [log in to unmask] (Gerald I. Evenden)
: Re: Place Name Mystery
At a spot in Calif. near the Nev. border, just west of Baker? (it has
been a long time), there is a sign to a road leading to Zzyzx. This
was the days before the current interstate that runs through there so
may not now be signed.
Sorry, don't have a road atlas handy at the moment. My recollection
was that it once was on road maps. Just a hole-in-the-wall south
of the highway.
Gerald (Jerry) I. Evenden Internet: [log in to unmask]
voice: (508)563-6766 Postal: P.O. Box 1027
fax: (508)457-2310 N.Falmouth, MA 02556-1027
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: Thu, 4 May 1995 16:59:41 -0700
: [log in to unmask] (Tony Meadow)
: Re: Place Name Mystery
If I remember correctly, there is a town of that name located in Death
Valley. There is also a literary journal named after the town.
Tony
------
Tony Meadow
Bear River Associates, Inc., PO Box 1900, Berkeley, CA 94701 USA
Telephone: 510 644 9400 Fax: 510 644 9778
Internet: [log in to unmask] AppleLink: D0068
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: [log in to unmask]
: Thu, 4 May 1995 15:25:00 -0700
: Re: Place Name Mystery
Have you tried any imaginary place names? My best guess: it looks a
little like one of the places Italo Calvino might have
dreamed up (Invisible Cities, and a number of other titles).
LC
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: Thu, 4 May 1995 16:03:46 -0700 (PDT)
: "T. Edwards" <[log in to unmask]>
: Re: Place Name Mystery
Ah, this one is an EASY one. For those of you who may have lived in
southern California, and made the roadtrip from LA to Las Vegas, driving
the monotonous desert highways, you may recall this.
At some point along interstate 15 in California, I think between Baker
and the Nevada border, there's a lonely exit ramp off the freeway, with a
sign pointing to the town of Zzyzx. I may be wrong as to where the exit
is (it might be between Baker and Barstow). But I know it's there, as
I've seen the town's sign many a time. No, it's not a romanized version
of some foreign tongue either, just a funky name someone decided to
construct that would look interesting in the middle of the Mojave Desert.
Tom Edwards
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: Thu, 4 May 1995 14:14:04 -0700 (PDT)
: Phil Hoehn <[log in to unmask]>
: Re: Place Name Mystery
It's in California -- Phil Hoehn, U.C. Berkeley Earth Sciences and Map
Library -- (Please send 5 gold stars via e-mail)
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: [log in to unmask] (JK Herro)
: Thu, 4 May 1995 12:49:20 -0700
: Re: Place Name Mystery (Zzyzx)
Eric:
The USGS National Geographic Names Database (GNIS CD-Rom) tells of
two in California; Zzyzx Spring (AKA Soda Springs, Zzyzx Mineral Springs,
Zzyzx Springs, at N 35 08'10" / W116 06'10") and a locale Zzyzx (AKA Fort
Soda, Soda Springs, Zzyzx Mineral Spring Resort) and are on the Soda Lake
North, CA 7.5' quad; San Bernardino County in the Mojave Desert.
The following citation indicates that it is a significant
Native American Indian site.
Cameron, Constance. "The West Pond report : archaeological investigations
at SBr-363c Soda Springs (Zzyzx), California / by Constance Cameron ;
with sections by Ronald D. Douglas ... [et al.]."
Fullerton, Calif. : Museum of Anthropology, California State University,
1984. vi, 152 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.
JK Herro
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: Thu, 04 May 95 13:51:03 EST
: "Michael Knes, Detroit Public Library" <MKNES@WAYNEST1>
: Re: Place Name Mystery
Eric -
As to Zzyzx a key word search on LUIS/NOTIS turned up the following:
Tertiary stratigraphy of highly extended terranes, California, Arizona,
and Nevada : proceedings of a workshop held at the Desert Research Center. Soda
Springs (Zzyzx) California... (SuDoc I 19.3:2035), don't need the five gold
stars but a chilled martini would be nice if we ever meet up.
Hope this helps!
Michael Knes, Map Specialist
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: Fri, 05 May 1995 10:28:56 -0500
: [log in to unmask] (Robert E. Murowchick)
: Re: MAPS-L Digest - 2 May 1995 to 4 May 1995
My best guess is that the Mystery Place is abbreviated from the full
Chinese name, romanized in the pinyin romanization system that is used in
the People's Republic of China. That romanization system is full of Q's,
X's, Y's, and Z's. For example, the capital city of Henan Province is
Zhengzhou; the capital city of Guangdong Province is Guangzhou, and Hong
Kong is Xianggang. Sometimes place names are abbreviated based on their
pinyin romanization, which can result in very bizarre looking strings of
letters. These are frequently used in billboards and other advertising, I
suppose in an effort to appeal to Western viewers who can't read the
Chinese characters themselves. The Institute of Archaeology, Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences (Zhongguo Shehui Kexueyuan Kaogu Yanjiusuo), for
instance, is sometimes abbreviated in print as ZGSHKXYKGYJS.
If Mr. Schmidt's patron can provide any additional information, such as
where he saw the reference to "Zzyzx," it might be possible to figure out
what the full romanization would be, and therefore what the original
Chinese characters would be.
Or maybe not!
With best wishes,
Bob Murowchick
Fairbank Center for East Asian Research
Harvard University
Tel: (617) 495-4657
Fax: (617) 495-9976
Email: [log in to unmask]
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: Fri, 5 May 1995 08:38:09 -0700 (PDT)
: eva stowers <[log in to unmask]>
: Re: Place Name Mystery
Wow -- finally a MAPS-L question I know the answer to :)
Zzyzx, located 100 miles southwest of Las Vegas, was a health resort
founded in 1944 by fromer radio preacher Curtis Springer. I think
they specialized in rejuvenation. The UNLV library has a videocassette
of a local television program on the subject from 1983.
Eva Stowers
Desert Research Institute Library
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: Fri, 5 May 1995 08:40:09 -0700 (PDT)
: PETER V GRATTON <[log in to unmask]>
: Re: Place Name Mystery
Zzyzx is on Highway I-15. If you head west to California from Las
Vegas, you pass the Zzyzx Road turnoff. It always creates a stare,
when you first pass the sign. I am 99% sure it is in California.
Those of you with your GNIS up and running can probably confirm.
Pronounced Zis ixs.
Glad to be able to help solve a mystery. I believe there is a
Zzyzx ranch at the end of Zzyzx Road. I believe that was the ranch's
brand; making rustling very difficult.
Eric, I am originally from Minnesota and went to High School with
Gary Schmidt. As Gary always said " Like the Beer".
Peter Gratton [log in to unmask]
Government Publications Dept Library
Univ of Nevada, Las Vegas
4505 Maryland Parkway
Box 457013
Las Vegas NV 89154-7013
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: Fri, 5 May 1995 09:20:58 -0700
: Robert Zimdar <[log in to unmask]>
: Re: Place Name Mystery
Zzyzx is well known to folks in southern California with a gambling
bent, since it is on the road to Las Vegas! Or, to those of us who
spend our time wandering around dry lake beds! The geology of the area
is wonderful. We haven't a clue as to the meaning!
Zzyzx in on the western edge of Soda Dry Lake, less than ten miles
south of Baker, southern California, USA. It is on USGS 7.5-min quad
"Soda Lake North"; it is quad B1 of the USGS 2x1-degree sheet 35116-A1
"Soda Mountains". It is in the "Devil's Playground" of the Mojave
Desert. The Zzyzx Springs Road exit off I-15 is between Barstow and
Baker.
Hope this helps,
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Robert Zimdar and Lisa Heizer, Systems Coordinators
CIVAC: Computer Imaging, Visualization, and Animation Center
Department of Geological Sciences, San Diego State University
voice:(619) 594-5673 fax:(619) 594-4372
Internet: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]
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: "Steven Frank" <[log in to unmask]>
: Fri, 5 May 1995 08:48:31 MST7MDT
: Re: Place Name Mystery
I remember seeing the name Zzyxx on a roadsign years ago while driving
from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. I am pretty sure it was on the California
side near the Nevada border.
Steven Frank Phone: (505) 646-8171
Dept. of Surveying FAX: (505) 646-3549
New Mexico State University
Box 30001, Dept. 3SUR Email: [log in to unmask]
Las Cruces, NM 88003-0001
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