"en route to Yuma" a Yuma Travel Page by joanj

whilst on our Tour, we made this stop at Jacumba - this is called the Desert Tower. The view from the other side of this tower is awesome, looking down to the plateau below. This is on the road from San Diego, to Pheonix. Our next stop was Yuma. (this is why the photo is in the Yuma section).
Since my last visit to the Desert Tower, it has changed hands and now is run by an Englishman, and his Mother, who is a writer, lives in their home just out of the picture. It is always windy up here in the rocky terrain. He serves delicious coffee, and sells books, crafts etc. He loves to receive visitors.
Below is writings taken from a plaque in the grounds.
"Mountain Springs Station Site. In 1862 - 70 about a mile north of here, Peter Larkin and Joe Stancliff used a stone house as a store from which ox teams pulled wagons up a 30% grade. The San Diego & Fort Yuma Turnpike Co. used the site as a toll road station until 1876. The crumbling house was replaced in l917 by another still visible to it's east, but road changes, beginning in l878 and culminating in today's highway have left the older stone house ruins inaccessible.
It is a California registered historical landmark # 194.

Photo by Joan Johnson.