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United States

Desert View Tower

This lonely tower overlooking the desert remembers the dogged works who pioneered the region.

About

Not far from the Mexican border, the Desert View was built in the mid 1920s, by Bert Vaughn, a hotel owner in nearby Jacumba. Standing high above the Anza Borrego desert, he created the four-story tower to commemorate the pioneers and road and railroad builders who opened the area. If you look down the hill from the town, it’s still possible to see the old stage station and original road. A great vantage point in an otherwise desolate area, the tower’s location proved useful during World War II, when the US army used it as an observation post to make sure Nazis didn’t enter the states via Mexico. Along with the panoramic views, the tower also has a curious sight: carvings of ions, Indian chiefs, and lizards made by engineer W.T. Ratcliffe during the Great Depression.

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CountryUnited States
Local time8:31 AM PST
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