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93-667: The Dead Mountains are 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Needles, California . They border the Colorado River on the east, and the Piute Wash of the Piute Valley on the west. Piute wash drains south, then turns east for 8 mi (13 km) at the south of the range to meet the Colorado River. Mount Manchester is the highest point at 3,598 feet (1,097 m). The rust colored mountains, which cover 46,758 acres, were designated

186-430: A relative humidity of 0.33%, the lowest value ever recorded on Earth. In the winter, temperatures are typically mild, with December, the coolest month, having a normal mean temperature of 54.7 °F (12.6 °C). The hottest month, July, has a normal mean temperature of 98.5 °F (36.9 °C). On average, there are 119 days annually with a maximum of 100 °F (37.8 °C) or higher, 175 days with

279-505: A Dust Bowl "Okie". The work of independent artists was also influenced by the crises of the Dust Bowl and the Depression. Author John Steinbeck , borrowing closely from field notes taken by Farm Security Administration worker and author Sanora Babb , wrote The Grapes of Wrath (1939) about migrant workers and farm families displaced by the Dust Bowl. Babb's own novel about the lives of

372-500: A bulletin that suggested reestablishing native grasses by the "hay method". Developed in 1937 to speed up the process and increase returns from pasture, the "hay method" was originally supposed to occur in Kansas naturally over 25–40 years. After much data analysis, the causal mechanism for the droughts can be linked to ocean temperature anomalies. Specifically, Atlantic Ocean sea surface temperatures appear to have had an indirect effect on

465-467: A decade of dirt and dust, the drought ended when regular rainfall finally returned to the region. The government still encouraged continuing the use of conservation methods to protect the Plains' soil and ecology. At the end of the drought, the programs implemented during the tough times helped sustain a friendly relationship between farmers and the federal government. The President's Drought Committee issued

558-512: A downward shift into semi-skilled work. While semi-skilled work did not pay as well as high-skilled work, most of these workers were not impoverished. For the most part, by the end of the Dust Bowl the migrants generally were better off than those who chose to stay behind. After the Great Depression ended, some migrants moved back to their original states. Many others remained where they had resettled. About one-eighth of California's population

651-701: A few personal belongings and headed west. Some residents of the Plains, especially Kansas and Oklahoma, fell ill and died of dust pneumonia or malnutrition . Between 1930 and 1940, about 3.5 million people moved out of the Plains states. In just over a year, over 86,000 people migrated to California . This number is more than the number of migrants to that area during the 1849 gold rush . Migrants abandoned farms in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico , but were often generally called " Okies ", "Arkies", or "Texies". Terms such as "Okies" and "Arkies" came to be standard in

744-540: A head. Animals determined unfit for human consumption were killed; at the beginning of the program, more than 50% were so designated in emergency areas. The DRS assigned the remaining cattle to the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation (FSRC) to be used in food distribution to families nationwide. Although it was difficult for farmers to give up their herds, the cattle slaughter program helped many of them avoid bankruptcy. "The government cattle buying program

837-456: A high cantilever bridge , at a narrower point with solid rock footings, ten miles downstream near today's Topock . The bridge was completed in May 1890, and the old bridge was dismantled. At first it was a tent town for railroad construction crews, but the railway would eventually build a hotel, car sheds, shops and a roundhouse. Within only a month, Needles would have a Chinese laundry, a newsstand,

930-416: A maximum of 90 °F (32 °C) or higher, and 2.7 days with a minimum of 32 °F (0 °C) or lower. Official record temperatures range from 18 °F (−8 °C) on January 22, 1937, to 125 °F (52 °C), last recorded on June 20, 2017. Annual normal rainfall is 4.32 in (110 mm), and there is an annual normal of 23 days with measurable precipitation. The wettest year

1023-644: A regular public school), Vista Colorado Elementary School (grades K–5), Needles Middle School (grades 6–8), Needles High School (grades 9–12), and the Educational Training Center (grades 9–12). Needles High School, due to its distance from other California schools, is a member of the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association , along with four other similarly placed California schools: Truckee , North Tahoe, South Tahoe, and Coleville . Needles also has two private schools:

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1116-404: A report in 1935 covering the government's assistance to agriculture during 1934 through mid-1935: it discussed conditions, measures of relief, organization, finances, operations, and results of the government's assistance. Numerous exhibits are included in this report. In many regions, more than 75% of the topsoil was blown away by the end of the 1930s. Land degradation varied widely. Aside from

1209-554: A restaurant, several general stores, and nine or ten saloons. Needles quickly became the largest port on the river above Yuma, Arizona . The railway and the Fred Harvey Company built the elegant Neoclassical and Beaux-Arts style El Garces Hotel and Santa Fe Station in 1908, which was considered the "crown jewel" of the entire Fred Harvey chain. The landmark building is on the National Register of Historic Places and

1302-457: A small herd of bighorn sheep , rattlesnakes , falcons , hawks , eagles . A portion of the wilderness is critical habitat for the endangered desert tortoise . Needles, California Needles is a city in eastern San Bernardino County, California , in the Mojave Desert region of Southern California . Situated on the western banks of the Colorado River , Needles is located near

1395-420: A very strong dust storm stripped topsoil from desiccated South Dakota farmlands in one of a series of severe dust storms that year. Beginning on May 9, 1934, a strong, two-day dust storm removed massive amounts of Great Plains topsoil in one of the worst such storms of the Dust Bowl. The dust clouds blew all the way to Chicago , where they deposited 12 million pounds (5,400 tonnes) of dust. Two days later,

1488-506: A vice mayor from among its members. The city council also appoints a city manager who is responsible for the operation of city departments. As of October 2023, the current city manager is Patrick J. Martinez. In the California State Legislature , Needles is in the 16th Senate District , represented by Democrat Melissa Hurtado , and in the 33rd Assembly District , represented by Republican Devon Mathis . In

1581-536: Is Destitute Pea Pickers in California. Mother of Seven Children depicted a gaunt-looking woman, Florence Owens Thompson , holding three of her children. This picture expressed the struggles of people caught by the Dust Bowl and raised awareness in other parts of the country of its reach and human cost. Decades later, Thompson disliked the boundless circulation of the photo and resented that she had received no money from its broadcast. Thompson felt it made her perceived as

1674-655: Is also known for moderate to locally severe thunderstorms during the monsoon season as well as humid conditions. Needles is served by the National Weather Service 's NOAA Weather Radio operating on 162.50 MHz from the Las Vegas National Weather Service. As of the census of 2000, there were 4,830 people, 1,940 households, and 1,268 families residing in the city. The estimated population in July 2006: 5,330 (+10.4% change). The population density

1767-576: Is being restored. Needles was a major stop on the historic U.S. Route 66 highway from the 1920s through the 1960s. For migrants from the Midwest Dust Bowl in the 1930s, it was the town that marked their arrival in California. The city is lined with motels and other shops from that era. The "Carty's Camp", which appears briefly in The Grapes of Wrath as the Joad family enters California from Arizona ,

1860-516: Is now a ghost tourist court, its remains located behind the 1940s-era 66 Motel . In 1949, the United States Bureau of Reclamation began an extensive project to dredge a new channel for the Colorado River that would straighten out a river bend that caused serious silt problems after the Hoover Dam was completed. Needles is a tourism and recreation center. The city is the eastern gateway to

1953-477: Is of Okie heritage. Agricultural land and revenue boomed during World War I, but fell during the Great Depression and the 1930s. The agricultural land most affected by the Dust Bowl was 16 million acres (6.5 million hectares) of land in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles. These 20 counties that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Soil Conservation Service identified as the worst wind-eroded region were home to

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2046-721: Is water. The once smaller nearby communities of Bullhead City, Arizona , Lake Havasu City, Arizona , and Laughlin, Nevada have in recent years become larger communities than Needles. The 2010 United States Census reported that Needles had a population of 4,844. The population density was 154.9 inhabitants per square mile (59.8/km ). The racial makeup of Needles was 3,669 (75.7%) White (65.4% Non-Hispanic White), 95 (2.0%) African American , 399 (8.2%) Native American , 35 (0.7%) Asian , 9 (0.2%) Pacific Islander , 323 (6.7%) from other races , and 314 (6.5%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1,083 persons (22.4%). The Census reported that 4,839 people (99.9% of

2139-595: The 100th meridian on the High Plains , characterized by plains that vary from rolling in the north to flat in the Llano Estacado . Elevation ranges from 2,500 ft (760 m) in the east to 6,000 ft (1,800 m) at the base of the Rocky Mountains . The area is semiarid , receiving less than 20 in (510 mm) of rain annually; this rainfall supports the shortgrass prairie biome originally present in

2232-580: The Great American Desert . The lack of surface water and timber made the region less attractive than other areas for pioneer settlement and agriculture. The federal government encouraged settlement and development of the Plains for agriculture via the Homestead Act of 1862 , offering settlers " quarter section " 160-acre (65 ha) plots. With the end of the Civil War in 1865 and the completion of

2325-557: The Great Depression had rendered economic conditions there little better than those they had left. The combined effects of World War I and the disruption of the Russian Revolution , which decreased the supply of wheat and other commodity crops, increased agricultural prices; this demand encouraged farmers to dramatically increase cultivation. For example, in the Llano Estacado of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas ,

2418-751: The Kinkaid Act (1904) and 320 acres (130 ha) elsewhere in the Great Plains under the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909 . Waves of European settlers arrived in the plains at the beginning of the 20th century. A return of unusually wet weather seemingly confirmed a previously held opinion that the "formerly" semiarid area could support large-scale agriculture. At the same time, technological improvements such as mechanized plowing and mechanized harvesting made it possible to operate larger properties without increasing labor costs. With insufficient understanding of

2511-552: The Mojave National Preserve , a scenic desert area. The city has a desert climate with a subtropical temperature range, with a mean annual temperature of 76.2 °F (24.6 °C). Needles, like Death Valley to the northwest, is known for extreme heat during the summer. The Needles weather station is frequently reported by the United States government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as

2604-567: The Resettlement Administration , which later became the Farm Security Administration , encouraged small farm owners to resettle on other lands if they lived in drier parts of the Plains. During President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first 100 days in office in 1933, his administration quickly initiated programs to conserve soil and restore the nation's ecological balance. Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes established

2697-540: The Santa Fe Railroad ). The depot has been a terminal (crew change point) for the railway since the late 19th century. The railroad company has been the city's main employment source for over a century. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 30.2 square miles (78 km ). 29.8 square miles (77 km ) of it is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km ) of it (1.36%)

2790-540: The United States House of Representatives , Needles is in California's 25th congressional district , represented by Democrat Raul Ruiz . In 2008, claiming the county had been unwilling to help keep the city's troubled hospital open as a full-service medical facility, the city considered seceding from California and becoming part of neighboring Nevada , only a few miles away. The options of attaching itself to

2883-476: The first transcontinental railroad in 1869, waves of new migrants and immigrants reached the Great Plains and greatly increased the acreage under cultivation. An unusually wet period in the Great Plains mistakenly led settlers and the federal government to believe that " rain follows the plow " (a popular phrase among real estate promoters) and that the region's climate had permanently changed. While initial agricultural endeavors were primarily cattle ranching ,

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2976-525: The " Black Sunday " black blizzards of April 14, 1935; Edward Stanley, the Kansas City news editor of the Associated Press, coined the term "Dust Bowl" while rewriting Geiger's news story. The term "the Dust Bowl" originally referred to the geographical area affected by the dust, but today it usually refers to the event itself (the term "Dirty Thirties" is also sometimes used). The drought and erosion of

3069-408: The 1930s for those who had lost everything and were struggling the most during the Great Depression. But not all migrants traveled long distances; most participated in internal state migration, moving from counties that the Dust Bowl badly impacted to other, less affected counties. So many families left their farms and were on the move that the proportion of migrants and residents was nearly equal in

3162-521: The California border with Arizona and Nevada . The city is accessible via Interstate 40 and U.S. Route 95 . The population was 4,959 at the 2020 census , up from 4,844 at the 2010 census . Mojave Indians first inhabited the area. Needles was founded in May 1883 during the construction of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , which originally crossed the Colorado River at Eastbridge, Arizona three miles southeast of modern Needles. Needles

3255-643: The City of Needles and houses two Type 1 Engine companies, one Type 7 Engine company, one Water Tender and one 28-foot fireboat. The station is staffed full-time with career firefighters. Since December 1989 the City of Needles has been patrolled by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department under the command of Captain Ross Tarangle from the Needles Patrol Station. Colorado Medical Center

3348-669: The Dead Mountains Wilderness in 1994 by the United States Congress as part of the California Desert Protection Act of 1994 . They are maintained by the Bureau of Land Management . The vegetation is mostly creosote bush and desert wash scrub . The California Desert Conservation Area is located within the wilderness and smoke trees are found there. The wildlife found on the mountains includes coyote ,

3441-634: The Dust Bowl affected 100 million acres (400,000 km ) that centered on the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma Panhandle and touched adjacent sections of New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas. The Dust Bowl forced tens of thousands of poverty-stricken families, who were unable to pay mortgages or grow crops, to abandon their farms, and losses reached $ 25 million per day by 1936 (equivalent to $ 550 million in 2023). Many of these families, often called " Okies " because many of them came from Oklahoma, migrated to California and other states to find that

3534-553: The Dust Bowl in the mid-1970s when he revisited some of the worst afflicted counties: In contrast with Worster's pessimism, historian Mathew Bonnifield argued that the Dust Bowl's long-term significance was "the triumph of the human spirit in its capacity to endure and overcome hardships and reverses." A 2023 study in the Journal of Economic History found that while the Dust Bowl had large and enduring impacts on agricultural land, it had modest impacts on average wage incomes. The crisis

3627-427: The Great Depression limited mobility due to economic issues, decreasing migration. While the population of the Great Plains did fall during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, the drop was not caused by extreme numbers of migrants leaving the Great Plains but by of a lack of migrants moving from outside the Great Plains into the region. Government's greatly expanded participation in land management and soil conservation

3720-517: The Great Plains states. An examination of Census Bureau statistics and other records, and a 1939 survey of occupation by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics of about 116,000 families who arrived in California in the 1930s, showed that only 43% of Southwesterners were doing farm work immediately before they migrated. Nearly a third of all migrants were professional or white-collar workers. Some farmers had to take on unskilled labor when they moved; leaving

3813-857: The Needles Assembly of God Christian School and the Needles Seventh-day Adventist School. Interstate 40 , known locally as the Needles Freeway, is the major highway through Needles, connecting Barstow to the west and Arizona to the east. U.S. Route 95 also enters the city from the east on former Route 66 as a concurrency with the I-40 freeway, then splits with the Interstate west of the city, and heads north to Nevada . The Colorado River Bridge connects Needles directly with Mohave County, Arizona , and Arizona State Route 95 . Amtrak ,

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3906-778: The Soil Erosion Service in August 1933 under Hugh Hammond Bennett . In 1935, it was transferred and reorganized under the Department of Agriculture and renamed the Soil Conservation Service. It is now known as the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). As part of New Deal programs, Congress passed the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act in 1936, requiring landowners to share

3999-467: The allocated government subsidies with the laborers who worked on their farms. Under the law, "benefit payments were continued as measures for production control and income support, but they were now financed by direct Congressional appropriations and justified as soil conservation measures. The Act shifted the parity goal from price equality of agricultural commodities and the articles that farmers buy to income equality of farm and non-farm population." Thus,

4092-408: The amount of topsoil had been reduced, it would have been more productive to shift from crops and wheat to animals and hay. During the Depression and through at least the 1950s, there was limited relative adjustment of farmland away from activities that became less productive in more-eroded counties. Some of the failure to shift to more productive agricultural products may be related to ignorance about

4185-508: The area of farmland doubled between 1900 and 1920, then tripled between 1925 and 1930. The agricultural methods farmers favored during this period created the conditions for large-scale erosion under certain environmental conditions. The widespread conversion of the land by deep plowing and other soil preparation methods to enable agriculture eliminated the native grasses that held the soil in place and helped retain moisture during dry periods. Furthermore, cotton farmers left fields bare during

4278-472: The area. The region is also prone to extended drought, alternating with unusual wetness of equivalent duration. During wet years, the rich soil provides bountiful agricultural output, but crops fail during dry years. The region is also subject to high winds. During early European and American exploration of the Great Plains , this region was thought unsuitable for European-style agriculture; explorers called it

4371-402: The average family size was 3.0. In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.6% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 23.6% from 25 to 44, 25.6% from 45 to 64, and 15.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.2 males. The median income for a household in the city

4464-563: The benefits of changing land use. A second explanation is a lack of availability of credit, caused by the high rate of failure of banks in the Plains states. Because banks failed in the Dust Bowl region at a higher rate than elsewhere, farmers could not get the credit they needed to obtain capital to shift crop production. In addition, profit margins in either animals or hay were still minimal, and farmers at first had little incentive to change their crops. Patrick Allitt recounts how fellow historian Donald Worster responded to his return visit to

4557-465: The bus leaves at 6:15 and arrives at Victorville at 10:30 am. On the reverse trip, buses leave Victorville at 2:30 pm and arrives at Barstow at 7:15 pm. Vegas Airporter provides service between Lake Havasu City , Needles, and Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas . On July 1, 2016, San Bernardino County Fire Department annexed the City of Needles. Fire Station 32 provides fire protection to

4650-424: The cattle ranges of America and in the corn belt would have resulted in the marketing of thin cattle, immature hogs and the death of these animals on the range and on the farm, and if the old order had been in effect those years, we would have had a vastly greater shortage than we face today. Our program – we can prove it – saved the lives of millions of head of livestock. They are still on

4743-408: The date. Since the humidity was only 11%, the rain evaporated so that "only a trace of precipitation was recorded in the rain gauge". Weather records researcher Maximiliano Herrera reported that this was the lowest humidity at which rain has occurred on Earth in recorded history. On May 4, 2014, Needles reached a temperature of 102 °F (39 °C) with a dewpoint of −38 °F (−39 °C), for

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4836-510: The displaced from the Texas Panhandle , Oklahoma Panhandle , and the surrounding Great Plains to adjacent regions. More than 500,000 Americans were left homeless. More than 350 houses had to be torn down after one storm alone. The severe drought and dust storms left many homeless; others had their mortgages foreclosed by banks, or felt they had no choice but to abandon their farms in search of work. Many Americans migrated west, looking for work. Parents packed up " jalopies " with their families and

4929-660: The drought of the 1930s, the unanchored soil turned to dust , which prevailing winds blew away in huge clouds that sometimes blackened the sky. These choking billows of dust – named "black blizzards" or "black rollers" – traveled cross-country, reaching as far as the East Coast and striking such cities as New York City and Washington, D.C. On the plains, they often reduced visibility to three feet (1 m) or less. Associated Press reporter Robert E. Geiger happened to be in Boise City, Oklahoma , to witness

5022-584: The ecology of the plains, farmers had conducted extensive deep plowing of the Great Plains ' virgin topsoil during the previous decade; this displaced the native, deep-rooted grasses that normally trapped soil and moisture even during periods of drought and high winds. The rapid mechanization of farm equipment, especially small gasoline tractors, and widespread use of the combine harvester contributed to farmers' decisions to convert arid grassland (much of which received no more than 10 inches (250 mm) of precipitation per year) to cultivated cropland. During

5115-402: The farming sector commonly led to greater social mobility as there was a far greater likelihood that migrant farmers would later go into semi-skilled or high-skilled fields that paid better. Non-farmers experienced more downward occupational moves than farmers, but in most cases they were not significant enough to bring them into poverty, because high-skilled migrants were most likely to experience

5208-427: The federal government began an aggressive campaign to encourage Dust Bowl farmers to adopt planting and plowing methods that conserved the soil. The government paid reluctant farmers a dollar an acre (equivalent to $ 21 in 2023) to use the new methods. By 1938, the massive conservation effort had reduced the amount of blowing soil by 65%. The land still failed to yield a decent living. In the fall of 1939, after nearly

5301-408: The few locations on Earth that have recorded an overnight minimum temperature higher than 100 °F (37.8 °C). On August 13, 2012, Needles experienced a thunderstorm that deposited rain at a temperature of 115 °F (46 °C) starting at 3:56 pm, setting a new record for the hottest rain in world history. The air temperature was 118 °F (48 °C), tying Needles's record high for

5394-417: The first appearance of the term Dust Bowl ; it was coined by Edward Stanley, Kansas City news editor of the Associated Press, while rewriting Geiger's news story. Spearman and Hansford County have been literaly [sic] in a cloud of dust for the past week. Ever since Friday of last week, there hasn't been a day pass but what the county was beseieged [sic] with a blast of wind and dirt. On rare occasions when

5487-545: The general atmospheric circulation, while Pacific sea surface temperatures seem to have had the most direct influence. This catastrophe intensified the economic impact of the Great Depression in the region. In 1935, many families were forced to leave their farms and travel to other areas seeking work because of the drought, which had already lasted four years. The abandonment of homesteads and financial ruin resulting from catastrophic topsoil loss led to widespread hunger and poverty. Dust Bowl conditions fomented an exodus of

5580-475: The harsh winters' adverse effect on the cattle, beginning in 1886, a short drought in 1890, and general overgrazing , led many landowners to increase the amount of land under cultivation. Recognizing the challenge of cultivating marginal arid land, the U.S. government expanded on the 160 acres (65 ha) offered under the Homestead Act, granting 640 acres (260 ha) to homesteaders in western Nebraska under

5673-455: The land's agricultural value often failed to return to pre-Dust Bowl levels. In highly eroded areas, less than 25% of the original agricultural losses were recovered. The economy adjusted predominantly through large relative population declines in more-eroded counties, both during the 1930s and through the 1950s. The economic effects persisted in part because of farmers' failure to switch to more appropriate crops for highly eroded areas. Because

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5766-509: The majority of the Great Plains migrants during the Dust Bowl. While migration from and between the Southern Great Plain States was greater than migration in other regions in the 1930s, the numbers of migrants from these areas had only slightly increased from the 1920s. The Dust Bowl and Great Depression thus did not trigger a mass exodus of southern migrants, but simply encouraged these migrants to keep moving where in other areas

5859-479: The migrant workers, Whose Names Are Unknown , was written in 1939, but was eclipsed and shelved in response to Steinbeck's success, and was not published till 2004. Many of folk singer Woody Guthrie 's songs, such as those on his 1940 album Dust Bowl Ballads , are about his experiences in the Dust Bowl era during the Great Depression, when he traveled with displaced farmers from Oklahoma to California and learned their traditional folk and blues songs, earning him

5952-471: The national passenger rail system, provides daily service to Needles station , operating its Southwest Chief between Chicago and Los Angeles . It arrives between midnight and 2 am. Local transit service to the Needles area is provided by Needles Area Transit . As of August 2, 2016, Victor Valley Transit Authority has service from Needles to Barstow and Victorville on Fridays. To Barstow and Victorville,

6045-486: The nickname the "Dust Bowl Troubadour". Migrants also influenced musical culture wherever they went. Oklahoma migrants, in particular, were rural Southwesterners who carried their traditional country music to California. Today, the " Bakersfield Sound " describes this blend, which developed after the migrants brought country music to the city. Their new music inspired a proliferation of country dance halls as far south as Los Angeles. The 2003–2005 HBO TV series Carnivàle

6138-486: The parity goal was to re-create the ratio between the purchasing power of the net income per person on farms from agriculture and that of the income of persons not on farms that prevailed during 1909–1914. To stabilize prices, the government paid farmers and ordered more than six million pigs to be slaughtered as part of the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA). It paid to have the meat packed and distributed to

6231-545: The poor and hungry. The Federal Surplus Relief Corporation (FSRC) was established to regulate crop and other surpluses. In a May 14, 1935, address to the AAA, Roosevelt said: Let me make one other point clear for the benefit of the millions in cities who have to buy meats. Last year the Nation suffered a drought of unparalleled intensity. If there had been no Government program, if the old order had obtained in 1933 and 1934, that drought on

6324-630: The population) lived in households, 5 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 1,918 households, out of which 650 (33.9%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 712 (37.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 331 (17.3%) had a female householder with no husband present, 159 (8.3%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 186 (9.7%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships , and 6 (0.3%) same-sex married couples or partnerships . 588 households (30.7%) were made up of individuals, and 238 (12.4%) had someone living alone who

6417-523: The population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 2,261 people (46.7%) lived in rental housing units. According to the 2010 United States Census, Needles had a median household income of $ 29,613, with 28.8% of the population living below the poverty line. The City of Needles was incorporated on October 30, 1913. It is a charter city, led by an elected mayor and a city council with six elected members. Mayors serve two-year terms of office, and councilmembers serve four-year terms. The council designates

6510-408: The population. There were 1,940 households, out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were married couples living together, 16.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.6% were non-families. 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.5 and

6603-505: The range, and other millions of heads are today canned and ready for this country to eat. The FSRC diverted agricultural commodities to relief organizations. Apples, beans, canned beef, flour and pork products were distributed through local relief channels. Cotton goods were later included, to clothe needy. In 1935, the federal government formed a Drought Relief Service (DRS) to coordinate relief activities. The DRS bought cattle in counties that were designated emergency areas for $ 14 to $ 20

6696-501: The region. The drought came in three waves: 1934 , 1936, and 1939–1940, but some regions of the High Plains experienced drought conditions for as long as eight years. The Dust Bowl has been the subject of many cultural works, including John Steinbeck 's 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath , the folk music of Woody Guthrie , and Dorothea Lange 's photographs depicting the conditions of migrants, particularly Migrant Mother , taken in 1936. The Dust Bowl area lies principally west of

6789-536: The same storm reached cities to the east, such as Cleveland , Buffalo , Boston , New York City , and Washington, D.C. Monuments like the Statue of Liberty and the United States Capitol were blotted out. Dust worked its way into even the most sealed homes, leaving a coating on food, skin, and furniture. That winter (1934–35), red snow fell on New England . On April 14, 1935, known as " Black Sunday ", 20 of

6882-406: The short-term economic consequences of erosion, the Dust Bowl had severe long-term economic consequences. By 1940, counties that had experienced the most erosion had a greater decline in agricultural land values. The per-acre value of farmland declined by 28% in high-erosion counties and 17% in medium-erosion counties, relative to land value changes in low-erosion counties. Even over the long term,

6975-429: The site of the highest daily temperature recorded in the U.S. during the desert summers. Needles occasionally sets national or world daily temperature records, along with other related records associated with extreme desert heat. For instance, on July 22, 2006, Needles experienced a record high low temperature of 100 °F (38 °C) at 6:00 am with a high temperature exceeding 120 °F (49 °C), making it one of

7068-806: The state of Arizona or even forming a new county were also considered. Proposals to change states would require approval from the United States Congress and both state legislatures. The city is in the Needles Unified School District . Needles' elementary schools and Needles High School are part of the district. The school district is one of the largest in the United States in terms of area with almost 6,000 square miles (16,000 km ) in its boundaries. The district runs from Amboy to Needles, and south to Parker Dam. As of 2022 it had 955 students enrolled. The local Needles schools include Katie Hohstadt Elementary School, formerly called 'D' Street School (new home of Needles Head Start, and no longer

7161-419: The summer of 1930. During the next decade, the northern plains suffered four of their seven driest calendar years since 1895, Kansas four of its 12 driest, and the entire region south to West Texas lacked any period of above-normal rainfall until record rains hit in 1941. When severe drought struck the Great Plains region in the 1930s, it resulted in erosion and loss of topsoil because of farming practices at

7254-457: The time. The drought dried the topsoil and over time it became friable , reduced to a powdery consistency in some places. Without indigenous grasses in place, the plains' high winds picked up the topsoil and created massive dust storms . The persistent dry weather caused crops to fail, leaving the plowed fields exposed to wind erosion. The Great Plains' fine soil eroded easily and was carried east by strong continental winds. On November 11, 1933,

7347-448: The wind did subside for a period of hours, the air has been so filled with dust that the town appeared to be overhung by a fog cloud. Because of this long seige of dust and every building being filled with it, the air has become stifling to breathe and many people have developed sore throats and dust colds as a result. Much of the farmland was eroded in the aftermath of the Dust Bowl. In 1941, a Kansas agricultural experiment station released

7440-480: The winter, when winds in the High Plains are highest, and burned the stubble as a means to control weeds before planting, thereby depriving the soil of organic nutrients and surface vegetation. After fairly favorable climatic conditions in the 1920s with good rainfall and relatively moderate winters, which permitted increased settlement and cultivation in the Great Plains, the region entered an unusually dry era in

7533-427: The worst "black blizzards" occurred across the entire sweep of the Great Plains, from Canada south to Texas. The storms caused extensive damage and appeared to turn day to night; witnesses reported that they could not see five feet (1.5 m) in front of them at certain points. Denver-based Associated Press reporter Robert E. Geiger happened to be in Boise City, Oklahoma , that day. His story about Black Sunday marked

7626-461: Was $ 26,108, and the median income for a family was $ 33,264. Males had a median income of $ 39,688 versus $ 19,483 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 15,156. About 21.2% of families and 26.1% of the population were below the poverty line , including 38.2% of those under age 18 and 11.3% of those age 65 or over. Major employment in the city is supported by the BNSF Railway (formerly

7719-399: Was 162.3 inhabitants per square mile (62.7/km ). There were 2,551 housing units at an average density of 85.7 units per square mile (33.1 units/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 77.9% White , 1.6% African American , 7.0% Native American , 1.4% Asian , 0.1% Pacific Islander , 6.4% from other races , and 5.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 18.4% of

7812-563: Was 1939 with 13.33 in (339 mm) of rainfall and the driest year was 2006 with 0.70 in (18 mm). The most rainfall in one month was 7.61 in (193 mm) in September 1939. The most rainfall in a calendar day was 3.49 in (89 mm) on August 19, 1906. Snowfall is very rare in Needles, with the only month recording measurable snowfall being January 1949, when 15.2 in (38.6 cm) of snow fell, including 12.2 in (31.0 cm) inches on January 12, 1949. The city

7905-413: Was 39.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.0 males. There were 2,895 housing units at an average density of 92.6 units per square mile (35.8 units/km ), of which 1,015 (52.9%) were owner-occupied, and 903 (47.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 4.9%; the rental vacancy rate was 17.2%. 2,578 people (53.2% of

7998-413: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52. There were 1,202 families (62.7% of all households); the average family size was 3.12. The population was spread out, with 1,283 people (26.5%) under the age of 18, 401 people (8.3%) aged 18 to 24, 1,038 people (21.4%) aged 25 to 44, 1,357 people (28.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 765 people (15.8%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age

8091-730: Was a blessing to many farmers, as they could not afford to keep their cattle, and the government paid a better price than they could obtain in local markets." Roosevelt ordered the Civilian Conservation Corps to plant the Great Plains Shelterbelt , a huge belt of more than 200 million trees from Canada to Abilene, Texas , to break the wind, hold water in the soil, and hold the soil in place. The administration also began to educate farmers on soil conservation and anti-erosion techniques, including crop rotation, strip farming , contour plowing , and terracing. In 1937,

8184-590: Was an important result of the disaster. Different groups took many different approaches to responding to the disaster. To identify areas that needed attention, groups such as the Soil Conservation Service generated detailed soil maps and took photos of the land from the sky. To create shelterbelts to reduce soil erosion, groups such as the United States Forest Service 's Prairie States Forestry Project planted trees on private lands. Groups like

8277-426: Was documented by photographers, musicians, and authors, many hired during the Great Depression by the federal government. For instance, the Farm Security Administration hired photographers to document the crisis. Artists such as Dorothea Lange were aided by having salaried work during the Depression. She captured what have become classic images of the dust storms and migrant families. Among her best-known photographs

8370-581: Was named after "The Needles" , a group of pinnacles in the Mohave Mountains on the Arizona side of the river. The crossing was a poor site for a bridge, lacking firm banks and a solid bottom. A bridge was built, but it was of poor quality. Not only was it a "flimsy looking structure", but it was an obstacle to navigation on the river. Flooding on the Colorado River destroyed the bridge three times – in 1884, 1886 and 1888. The railway built Red Rock Bridge ,

8463-512: Was once a full service hospital but at present it's functioning as an urgent care center . Well I never been to England, but I kinda like the Beatles. Well, I headed for Las Vegas, only made it out to Needles. Can you feel it? Must be real. It feels so good! We pulled into a truck stop Somewhere just outside of Needles, California, You asked me for ten bucks and I said "What about the last ten bucks I loaned you?" Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl

8556-443: Was set during the dust bowl. The 2014 science fiction film Interstellar features a ravaged 21st-century America that is again scoured by dust storms (caused by a worldwide pathogen affecting all crops). Along with inspiration from the 1930s crisis, director Christopher Nolan features interviews from the 2012 documentary The Dust Bowl to draw further parallels. In 2017, Americana recording artist Grant Maloy Smith released

8649-456: Was the result of a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of natural factors (severe drought ) and human-made factors: a failure to apply dryland farming methods to prevent wind erosion , most notably the destruction of the natural topsoil by settlers in

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