Earp, California facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Earp, California
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Earp Post Office
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 Earp, California
Location in California
Earp, California
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | San Bernardino |
| Elevation | 397 ft (121 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| ZIP codes |
92242
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| Area code(s) | 760 |
Earp, California, is a small, quiet community located in the Sonoran Desert. It's right near where California meets Arizona, close to the Colorado River. This area is part of San Bernardino County. An "unincorporated community" means it's not an official city with its own local government. Instead, it's managed by the county.
Contents
Discovering Earp, California
Earp is a unique place with a cool history. It sits in the Parker Valley, a desert area. The town is known for its connection to a famous person from the American Old West.
A Town Named After a Legend
The community was first called Drennan in 1910. But in 1929, it got a new name: Earp. This name honors the legendary Old West lawman, Wyatt Earp. He and his wife, Josephine Sarah Marcus, lived in the area for part of the year starting in 1906.
Wyatt Earp's Desert Life
Wyatt Earp was interested in mining. He claimed more than 100 copper and gold mines near the Whipple Mountains. From 1925 to 1928, he and Josephine lived in a small house in nearby Vidal. This was their only permanent home during their marriage. They spent their winters working on his "Happy Days" mines. In the summers, they lived in Los Angeles, where Wyatt passed away in 1929.
The Post Office and a Special Grave
Even though Earp was never an official town, its post office was renamed "Wyatt Earp, California" in 1930. This happened after Wyatt Earp died. The post office is located near his old mining claims. It has the ZIP code 92242.
For fun, there's a small cemetery in Earp with a fake grave for Wyatt Earp. His real grave is actually in Colma, near San Francisco. The Earp post office is very far from the county seat in San Bernardino, California. It's further than any other post office in the county. The phone area code for this whole California region is 760.
Other Names for Earp
Sometimes, people call this area by other names. These include Big River, Drenna, and Drennan. Since Earp is an unincorporated community, the main person in charge is the County CEO of San Bernardino County.
Images for kids
These pictures show the area where the Earp Post Office is located. You can also see the special symbolic cemetery for Wyatt Earp.
