Daily WikiWeirdness: Zzyzyx, California

Prompted by my post on the $30 box office gross of 2006's Zyzzyx Road, my friend Mark sent me the above blurry snapshot he took passing by the real Zzyzyx Road at 75mph. He claims it's pronounced in the same way as Mr. Mxyzptlk. Of course, he's wrong, but we'll get to that in a second.

Anyway, I had no idea that Zyzzyx or Zzyzyx was a real place. Which makes it prime fodder for today's WikiWeirdness: Zzyzx, California.

Soda Springs, a natural spring, has long seen human activity. The area was a prehistoric quarry site and projectile points and rock art can be found in the area. The Mojave Road ran past the spring, as did the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad. Remnants of a wagon road stop and railroad artifacts are readily seen. Evaporative salt mining and mill sites can be found here as well.

The name Zzyzx, pronounced /ˈzaɪˌzɪks/ (pronounced as "Zei-zix" with the accent on the first syllable, rhyming with "Isaac's", not "physics"), was given to the area in 1944 by Curtis Howe Springer, claiming it to be the last word in the English language. Springer made up the word's pronunciation. He established the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa at the spot, which was federal land that he had no permission to use. He used Zzyzx until 1974, when he was arrested by the United States Marshals for misuse of the land as well as alleged violations of food and drug laws, and the land was confiscated by the government.

The Wikipedia article doesn't really go into the origins of the name, but Wikipedia also informs me that Zyzzyx is a type of sand wasp and a flesh-eating consumer of butterflies.

More interesting than all of this: despite the fact that Zyzzyx Road grossed less money than I'll earn for this post in its limited theatrical run, there were not one, but two movies about Zzyzyx in 2006. Guess Hollywood saw Zzyzyx as a sure thing last year.

Zzyzx, California [Wikipedia]