{"id":412867,"date":"2026-07-26T13:50:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T13:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/412867\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T13:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T13:50:12","slug":"bakers-famed-thermometers-next-chapter-includes-many-possibilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/412867\/","title":{"rendered":"Baker’s famed thermometer’s next chapter includes many possibilities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Residents of the 15 Freeway desert outpost of Baker, Calif., located about 94 miles southwest of Las Vegas and 175 miles northeast of Los Angeles, know it\u2019s perpetually hot in their sun-drenched town.<\/p>\n

For further verification of just how sweltering the day is, though, they can also peer toward their colossus: the 134-foot \u201cWorld\u2018s Tallest Thermometer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cGateway to Death Valley\u201d will range from a low of 111 degrees to a high of 118 over the next week.<\/p>\n

You’re reading the Essential California newsletter <\/p>\n

Sign up to start every day with California’s most important stories.<\/p>\n

By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service<\/a>, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy<\/a> such as personalizing your experience and ads. <\/p>\n

While temperatures are only going up this summer, so too is hope for the thermometer\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old monument went up for sale in May for $1.85 million<\/a>, leaving a town wondering if there would be takers for an icon whose fate often mirrored that of the desert oasis.<\/p>\n

The real estate agent for the family that owns the thermometer spoke with Essential California and assured fans that there has been interest and sale negotiations are underway.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s jump into that chat.<\/p>\n

So, why is there a thermometer in Baker?<\/p>\n

The metal, glass and plastic gauge was a passion project for Baker businessman Willis Herron.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor 25 years I\u2019ve had this dream of putting up the world\u2019s tallest thermometer,\u201d Herron told The Times in 1991<\/a>, \u201cbecause people pulling off the freeway in the heat of summer are always making remarks like: \u2018Whew! It\u2019s hotter \u2018n hell. How hot is it anyway?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Herron placed the thermometer next to his restaurant, the now long-shuttered Bun Boy, hoping travelers would find the attraction novel enough to stop and patronize.<\/p>\n

The lore behind 134 feet<\/p>\n

The $750,000 thermometer rose in 1991, collapsed in a sandstorm shortly after and was resurrected in 1992<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The thermometer stands 13 stories or 134 feet tall to commemorate the hottest recorded temperature on earth, 134 degrees at nearby Greenland Ranch<\/a> in Death Valley on July 10, 1913.<\/p>\n

The thermometer once blasted 4,900 bulbs so bright that Herron<\/a>, who lived across the street, was forced to close his window shades.<\/p>\n

Close to a sale<\/p>\n

Los Angeles-based real estate agent Baron Castillo says the still functioning thermometer has four legitimate interested buyers from Las Vegas and Los Angeles and expects a completed sale within 60 days.<\/p>\n

The updated price of $1.85 million<\/a> includes 4.31 acres of land that could be used for anything, including storage space and solar panels.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, it\u2019s just a matter of all parties doing their due diligence,\u201d Castillo said. \u201cThere\u2019s several ways the property could be developed, whether that\u2019s retail, a store or a coffee shop, and there\u2019s even a good-sized freezer included. It just depends on what they want to do with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

One bright idea<\/p>\n

The one business Castillo doesn\u2019t anticipate, however, is a data center, since those entities generally require much more territory, he said.<\/p>\n

Castillo believes the biggest need in Baker is charging stations. He noted that the town hosts only four such electrical chargers, often leading to long lines for the millions of annual drivers who traverse between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could have a project where you could construct several charging stations, charging vehicles between 20 to 45 minutes,\u201d Castillo said. \u201cIn between that time, they could stop by your microbrewery or restaurant. There really are possibilities here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The week\u2019s biggest stories \"DWP <\/a> <\/p>\n

(Genaro Molina \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Los Angeles\u2019 aging water infrastructureArson and fireCrime, courts and policingLos Angeles City PowerWhat else is going onMust-readOther must-readsFor your downtime \"Photo <\/a> <\/p>\n

(Illustrations by Lindsey Made This; photograph by Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Going outStaying inL.A. Affairs<\/p>\n

Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.<\/p>\n

Have a great day, from the Essential California team<\/p>\n

Hailey Branson-Potts, staff reporter
Hugo Mart\u00edn, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew J. Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters<\/p>\n

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>. Check our top stories<\/a>, topics<\/a> and the latest articles<\/a> on latimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Residents of the 15 Freeway desert outpost of Baker, Calif., located about 94 miles southwest of Las Vegas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[7,2299,1085,891,2300,2297,340,2303,48,52,51,47,50,49,63,2302,1086,1459,2301,2298,74,225,315,688],"class_list":["post-412867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-california","tag-civic-revolt","tag-covid","tag-covid-19","tag-days","tag-essential-california","tag-israel","tag-l-a","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-may","tag-pandemic","tag-part","tag-president-biden","tag-red-county","tag-san-diego","tag-state","tag-time","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}