The ghost town with only FIFTY residents... but no broadband and the nearest supermarket is 90 miles away (that explains why NO teenagers live there)
- The remote community of Darwin is in the desert mountains close to the Death Valley National Park
If you are reliant on your smartphone for directions, then be prepared to brush up with a map and compass if vacation plans include a trip to Darwin, California.
The remote town, sitting high in the desert mountains close to the Death Valley National Park, has an excruciatingly slow Internet connection, scant cellphone signal and the dubious honor of becoming one of last places in America not to be hooked up with broadband.
A census from 2010, found the town to have just 43 residents across 28 households - and no one under the age of 18. The town sign claimed 50 people lived in Darwin - but no one can verify this as the plaque has been stolen.
Snail mail: With no broadband connection in Darwin, California the residents must make do with the postal service or excruciatingly slow dial-up connections
The back of beyond: Abandoned cars litter the small community of Darwin where most people live in trailers or reclaimed mining shacks
Only 3 per cent of Americans must make do with a dial-up Internet connection these days and the few citizens of Darwin are among them, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
John Rothgeb, 67, who has lived in Darwin since the Seventies, told the Los Angeles Times that he accepted sacrifices must be made when you live somewhere as remote - and with such unspoiled natural beauty - as Darwin.
However he then told the Times: 'I understand that you have to give up certain things to live in a beautiful area like this.
'But I didn't move here to get away from everybody.'
The town was established by American explorer Dr Darwin French in 1874 after he discovered silver ore deposits in the mountains, just south of Death Valley.
Ghost town: Darwin claims to have 50 residents - although a 2010 census reported just 43. Although no one knows exactly as this sign has been stolen from the highway
Barren land: At the height of its mining boom in the late 19th century around 700 people lived in the town of Darwin
California dreaming: Darwin can be hard to find because the town no longer has a sign after it was stolen - and cellphone reception is non-existent
Just a year later, 700 people were found living in the town where around 20 mines were discovered - the population peaked in 1877 at several thousand people.In its heyday, Darwin was buzzing with saloon bars, general stores and brothels.
In many other ghost towns across the U.S., when the industry has died, life in the town has also disappeared. However in Darwin, a small community of artists and those preferring life in the wilderness, has remained. The population is made up of mainly couples and no one under the age of 18 lives in the beauty spot.
There are no stores to buy anything and nowhere to stay - the nearest supermarket is 90 miles away. The small community has only a local post office where residents can gather to pass the time of day. And even this is in danger of closing next year.
Residents have asked their Internet provider Verizon to install broadband in the town but for now, the cost outweighs the demand for the company. There are government plans to extend broadband to more remote areas across the U.S. by next year - but Darwin still remains too far out.
Keeping a sense of humour: An 'Occupy Darwin' sign is pinned to the ramshackle home with a few plastic seats for residents
On the road: The nearest supermarket to Darwin is 90 miles away - and Internet shopping is nearly impossible for residents because of the slow Internet connection
Free spirits: Darwin has attracted a small community of artists and those who prefer to live on the edge of civilization
Going nowhere fast: Darwin sits high in the desert mountains close to the Death Valley National Park
Most watched News videos
- Jewish man is threatened by a group of four men in north London
- Moment van crashes into passerby before sword rampage in Hainault
- Terrifying moment Turkish knifeman attacks Israeli soldiers
- King and Queen meet cancer patients on chemotherapy ward
- Two heart-stopping stormchaser near-misses during tornado chaos
- Vunipola laughs off taser as police try to eject him from club
- King and Queen depart University College Hospital
- Police cordon off area after sword-wielding suspect attacks commuters
- King Charles in good spirits as he visits cancer hospital in London
- Makeshift asylum seeker encampment removed from Dublin city centre
- Shocked eyewitness describes moment Hainault attacker stabbed victim
- Horror as sword-wielding man goes on rampage in east London
Wow...I need to go to that place with my camera. I...
by Venus 461