Hell is a locale in Riverside County

Riverside County, California

Riverside County is a county in the U.S. state of California. One of 58 California counties, it covers in the southern part of the state, and stretches from Orange County to the Colorado River, which forms the state border with Arizona. The county derives its name from the city of Riverside,...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, United States, approximately 29 miles (46.7 km) west of Blythe

Blythe, California

Blythe is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the "Palo Verde Valley" of the Lower Colorado River Valley region, an agricultural area and part of the Colorado Desert along the Colorado River. Blythe was named after Thomas Blythe, a gold prospector who established primary...

 on Interstate 10

Interstate 10

Interstate 10 is the fourth-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90, I-80, and I-40. It is the southernmost east–west, coast-to-coast Interstate Highway, although I-4 and I-8 are further south. It stretches from the Pacific Ocean at State Route 1 in Santa Monica,...

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History

Hell was founded by Charles Carr in 1954. As of 1958 Carr, his wife, and their ten-year-old son Terry were the only inhabitants. Carr also served as the lone member of Hell's Chamber of Commerce.

Hell was abandoned in the late 1950s or early 1960s when it was isolated by the construction of US Highway 60 and 70. Its remains were demolished and burned by the California State Division of Highways in late 1964 to make way for what would eventually become Interstate 10. Prior to its demise Hell had a service station, a beer tavern, and a good supply of drinking water.

Popular culture

On occasions Hell was referenced in the press, typically in relation to the weather:

• Columnist Art Ryon mentioned in his September 7, 1955, column in The Los Angeles Times
  Los Angeles Times
  The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
  
  that on September 1 it was 110 degrees in Los Angeles
  Los Ángeles
  Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
  
  , yet was only 105 degrees in Hell.
• On October 17, 1958, The Los Angeles Times published an article, LA's Hotter Than Hell--Only 97 There, when Los Angeles reached 104 degrees the same day.
• According to a UPI news report it also snowed in Hell, at least once, causing many to remark , "it was a cold day in Hell".

There were once several roadside signs referencing Hell, including one near Indio, California

Indio, California

Indio is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, located in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, east of Riverside, and east of Los Angeles. It is about north of Mexicali, Baja California on the U.S.-Mexican border...

 which read, "100 miles of desert ahead - right through Hell".

In her book, Riverside County, California, Placenames; Their Origins and Their Stories, Jane Davies Gunther notes that Hell "... was consigned to oblivion when the California State Highway Department

California Department of Transportation

The California Department of Transportation is a government department in the U.S. state of California. Its mission is to improve mobility across the state. It manages the state highway system and is actively involved with public transportation systems throughout the state...

 bought it, rather than make an interchange for it, thus making it impossible for anyone to go to Hell in Riverside County".

A song entitled "Hell, Ca., Pop.4" featured on the 1990 album "Blackout in the Red Room

Blackout in the Red Room

Blackout in the Red Room is rock band Love/Hate's first full length album. It was released in 1990 on Columbia Records. It reached #154 on the Billboard 200 album chart...

" by Love/Hate

Love/Hate

Love/Hate is a Los Angeles, California based hard rock band who achieved their greatest fame in the early 90s.-1985-1988 unsigned:Love/Hate was formed in 1985 when Jizzy Pearl joined Jon E. Love, Skid Rose, and Joey Gold, in an '80s influenced electronica band called Dataclan, after their...

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Uncited references

• Ryon, Art (Sept. 7, 1955). "Ham on Ryon". Los Angeles Times, p. A5.
• Times Correspondent (Apr. 4, 1958). "Rain? Even Hell Gets Inch Of It". Los Angeles Times, p. 2.
• Times Correspondent (Oct. 17, 1958). "LA's Hotter Than Hell--Only 97 There". Los Angeles Times, p. 2.
• "Sign Theft Raises Cain Near Hell". (Jan. 1, 1967). Los Angeles Times, p. E4.
• UPI (Dec. 7, 1964). "No more Hell, courtesy of Highway Dept.". The (Oxnard) Press-Courier, p. 16.