Fairmont Butte facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fairmont Butte |
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 3,130 ft (950 m) |
| Prominence | 430 ft (130 m) |
| Geography | |
| Location | Antelope Valley, Los Angeles County, US |
Fairmont Butte is a cool, isolated hill with steep sides, kind of like a small mountain. It was formed by volcanoes a long, long time ago! You can find it in the Antelope Valley in Los Angeles County, California. It's just west of the city of Lancaster, California.
The top of Fairmont Butte is about 3,130 feet (or 954 meters) above sea level. That's pretty high! Some parts of Fairmont Butte are even inside the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. This is a special place where beautiful California poppies bloom every spring.
History of Fairmont Butte
Fairmont Butte played an important role in building a huge water system. This system is called the Los Angeles Aqueduct. It brings water all the way from the Sierra Nevada mountains to Los Angeles.
Building the Aqueduct
When the city of Los Angeles was building the aqueduct, they needed a special ingredient for cement. They found a type of rock called tuff at Fairmont Butte. Tuff is a light, porous rock formed from volcanic ash. This tuff was perfect for making strong cement.
The Fairmont Mill
The city built a quarry and a grinding plant right at the base of Fairmont Butte. A quarry is a place where rocks are dug out of the ground. The plant would dig up the tuff, grind it into a fine powder, and then mix it with other materials to make cement. This special cement was used to build parts of the aqueduct, especially the section that went through the Mojave Desert.
Images for kids
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These are the ruins of the Fairmont Mill. It was one of three mills that helped make cement for the Los Angeles Aqueduct.
