The Huge City That Never Was in the Mojave Desert

In 1958, real estate developer and sociology professor, Nat Mendelsohn, purchased 82,000 acres of the Mojave Desert for a new city.

In 1958, real estate developer and sociology professor Nat Mendelsohn purchased 82,000 acres of the Mojave Desert. At the time, real estate was hard to come by at an affordable price in nearby Los Angeles and the Fernando Valley. Mendelsohn envisioned an entirely new city in the desert that would rival other large cities in the state. It was and still i…