Baker

History

Baker was founded as a station on the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad in 1908 and was named for Richard C. Baker, business partner of Francis Marion Smith in building the railroad. Baker later became president of the T&T himself. Baker was established in 1929 by Ralph Jacobus Fairbanks (1857–1942), who was an American prospector, entrepreneur, and pioneer who established several towns in the Death Valley area of California, including Fairbanks Springs (1904–05) and Shoshone (1910). It is the site of a vacant, 223-bed for-profit prison formerly operated by Cornell Corrections which experienced a major riot on December 2, 2003, four weeks before it was temporarily closed. It was permanently closed on December 25, 2009. GEO Group purchased Cornell Companies, its owner, on August 12, 2010. It had previously experienced escapes in August and November 1995 and two on July 15, 1997.

Geography

Baker is located in the Mojave Desert at the junction of Interstate 15 and SR 127 (Death Valley Road). Its elevation is approximately above sea level, which is much lower than either Barstow or Las Vegas, due to its location at the southern end of the Death Valley geological depression. The Cronese Mountains are located southwest of the community. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 2.7 square miles (7.0 km), all of it land. Summer temperatures in Baker routinely exceed ; 2007 saw a record of .

Most-observed species

• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  954
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  739
• Yellow-rumped Warbler

  Setophaga coronata (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  637
• American Coot

  Fulica americana Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  588
• Say's Phoebe

  Sayornis saya (Bonaparte, 1825) · Aves
  511
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  505
• White-crowned Sparrow

  Zonotrichia leucophrys (J.R.Forster, 1772) · Aves
  499
• Black Phoebe

  Sayornis nigricans (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  448

Most recent

• M 2.68 — 2026-06-22
  31 km NE of Fort Irwin, CA
• M 3.12 — 2026-05-07
  19 km N of Barstow, CA
• M 3.54 — 2026-04-17
  26 km WNW of Ludlow, CA
• M 3.16 — 2026-04-06
  26 km WNW of Ludlow, CA
• M 2.58 — 2026-04-04
  26 km WNW of Ludlow, CA
• M 3.92682187187508 — 2026-04-01
  26 km WNW of Ludlow, CA