So what was this place, I hear you asking. Well, it goes by a couple of different names, depending on the source you read. The more common name of this ruin complex is the Elizalde Cement Plant ruins. But another name, and perhaps the official one, is the Carrara Portland Cement Company Plant.

There's not much official information about the place, at least not that I could find, but here's what I gathered. The Carrara Portland Cement Company was incorporated in November of 1940 (by the way, I learned that "Portland Cement" is the most common type of cement in general use around the world). A man by the name of Angel M. Elizalde (hailing from an extremely wealthy and powerful Spanish family in the Philippines) was a director of the company, and its largest investor, which is probably the reason why his name became associated with the plant.

The company had grand plans and it wasn't long before excavations for the plant were underway. By April of 1941, a crew of forty-five men were laying the foundations and pillars for the heavy machinery which would soon be in place.

But why build a cement factory at this remote spot in the Mojave desert? Well, the Carrara quarry was located less than a mile away. The plant was going to make two grades of cement; the standard Portland variety, and a special high quality white cement produced from crushed white marble and white clay from the nearby quarry.

And then, things happened. One month before the plant would be operational, a fire decimated the complex. The machine shop, blacksmith shop, a field office and a storehouse were completely destroyed. The beginning of World War II may also have played a part in the company not rebuilding. The Carrara Portland Cement Company was finished before it even had the chance to produce one bag of cement. The investment, the land, the buildings were all abandoned. Leaving us today with an intriguing array of bullet-riddled, cement building and foundation ruins to take pictures of and write about. And apparently an irresistible canvas for graffiti artists.