Mojave phone booth

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Mojave phone booth was a lone telephone booth placed circa 1960 in the Mojave National Preserve which attracted an online following in 1997 due to its unusual location. The booth was 15 miles from the nearest interstate highway, and miles from any buildings. Its phone number was originally +1-714-733-9969, before the area code changed to 619 and then to 760; 733 is the Baker, California rate center.

Fans called the booth attempting to get a reply, and a few took trips to the booth to answer, often camping out at the site. Several callers kept recordings of their conversations. Over time, the booth became covered in graffiti, as many travelers would leave a message on it.

One of the more humorous incidents involving the phone booth was documented by Los Angeles Times writer John Glionna, who met 51-year-old Rick Karr there. Karr claims he was instructed by the Holy Spirit to answer the phone. He spent 32 days there, answering more than 500 phone calls including repeated calls from someone who identified himself as "Sergeant Zeno from the Pentagon."

The booth was removed on May 17, 2000 by Pacific Bell, at the request of the National Park Service. Officially, this was done to halt the environmental impact of visitors, though fans of the booth have accused the preserve managers of simply being killjoys. A headstone-like plaque was later placed at the site. It, too, was removed by the National Park Service.

Fans of the booth also claim that the actual enclosure was destroyed by Pacific Bell after its removal.

The story inspired the creation of a motion picture, Mojave Phone Booth.

There is also a documentary short called Mojave Mirage, which can be found in the Full Frame DVD collection of documentary shorts.