Boron Federal Prison: Abandoned Club Fed

Minimum-security institutions such as Boron are often referred to as country club prisons or Club Fed; officially they are categorized as Security Level No. 1 institutions, the least guarded in the federal prison system. There were only seven such facilities in the country, and Boron was the only self-contained Level 1 institution in California. The prison had no walls, fences, bars, gun towers or guns. What could go wrong? Surprisingly, very little…

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Harper Dry Lake: A Marsh Most Mellow

Harper Dry Lake bed in the Mojave Desert was the site of secret flight test programs conducted by the Hughes & Northrop aircraft companies during the 1940s, including the first flight by an American rocket-propelled aircraft. Howard Hughes tested aircraft and built a hangar here. Years later, it was decided Harper Dry Lake was the best place to launch the space shuttle’s heir apparent, the Lockheed Martin Venture Star…

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