Leonard Knight had a calling to create Salvation Mountain (a plaster and paint creation over rock devoted to love and God), located near the entrance to Slab City, and this attracted more visitors. Out of this rubble a thriving community developed, attracting artists, musicians, old hippies, and sun-seeking snowbirds. By 1956, the military base had been dismantled, leaving nothing but concrete slabs of the former barracks, hence the name. This is the site of a decommissioned WWII Marine Training Facility, Camp Dunlap. So he packed up his belongings and ventured into the desert, eventually finding his way to Slab City, which is surrounded by 630 acres of vast desert. The founder of East Jesus, the late Charlie Russell, wanted to create a life off the grid.
About a three-hour drive from Los Angeles and a two-and-a-half hour drive from San Diego, you’ll find a vibrant artistic oasis in the Sonora desert near the Salton Sea. Imagine a world without waste-a world that takes advantage of every opportunity to use discarded, recycled, or repurposed materials to create an experimental, sustainable, and habitable “homesteaded town.” Artists and residents of East Jesus, California, have set out to do just that. East Jesus: A Desert Enclave for Artists and Free Spirits
