By Grace Wong
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
BAKER--Vegas-bound travelers know it well.
Towering above fast food restaurants and gas stations, the 134-foot red and white thermometer that once greeting passers-by with a glowing numerical indication of the extreme desert temperatures, has stood darkened and in disrepair.
But no more.
After repossessing the landmark in March, the Herron family, who were the original owners of the electric sign, plan to renovate and relight the thermometer in early summer.
“We’ve watched it come into disrepair and it’s been a really sad thing for our family,” said LaRae Harguess, daughter of the late Willis Herron, a successful businessman in Baker. “We’re just really excited to get it back and get it lit for the town of Baker. It was my dad’s dream that it would help the entire town, so we’re going to get it back and get it turned back on.”
Herron and his wife Barbara had seen roadside attractions on their travels and Harguess said he often spoke of wanting to do one himself.
“It was a dream of my dad’s,” said Harguess of Willis Herron. “He wanted to have a roadside attraction that would actually bring people to the town of Baker, where he had several businesses.”
In 1991, Herron finally erected the World’s Tallest Thermometer in Baker and since then, the sign has been a popular tourist attraction and pit stop for travelers.
“This thermometer is a really an iconic piece of Baker and Baker’s history,” said David Lamfrom, senior program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association. “It’s iconic of people’s travels through the Mojave. They stop in Baker, get food and gas, but always tend to figure out how hot it is by looking at the thermometer; it roots people in place.”
When Herron became ill, he sold the thermometer to Larry Dabour, who later sold it to Matt Pike.
But as time went on, the thermometer’s glowing numbers went dim and began to show signs of wear. When Herron died in 2007, his wife went to visit the thermometer. What she saw made her even more sad.
“It was starting to become in disrepair and it was really saddening for her,” Harguess said. “Obviously seeing your mother upset, it upsets the children. It was just sad to see something so important to my dad go into disrepair.”
Barbara Herron, Willis Herron’s wife, decided that she and the family were going to repossess the thermometer and get it lit up again, in memory of her late husband. The family also has plans for building a memorial to Willis Herron. Harguess’ nephew has even created a website and Facebook page so that people can track the progress of the thermometer’s restoration.
“I know that our California economy has been bad and it’s definitely hurt every business in California, so I’m hoping with the relighting of the thermometer, it will do what my dad always intended: get people off the freeway to stop in Baker. We see a lot of people stop while it’s dark, so hopefully more people will stop to see it lit up. We’re hoping that my dad’s original dream of getting people to stop in the town will be reaffirmed.”
The thermometer has drawn visitors to it in the past and businesses anticipate more visitors once it’s lit.
“It’s great to hear that the original owners are taking over the thermometer and making the necessary improvements in (again) making it the landmark that it is,” said Diana Romo, Baker Community Services District. “I’m sure it will bring more business to the town and the businesses here will welcome the family back in town.”
For many tourists, taking a photo with the thermometer looming in the background is a testament to surviving the intense heat of the desert, said Lamfrom.
“It’s a piece of the collective imagination of what the desert is; that’s what the thermometer is,” Lanfrom said. “It’s showing the incredible temperatures and people showing they’ve had the desert experience by braving the heat, which is interesting because it’s such a small part of the desert experience. It really captured peoples’ imaginations, and is actually one of the reasons people fear and don’t understand the desert: they think it’s always hot. It’s an embodiment of peoples’ perception of the desert and it plays on the perception of that in a incredible and wonderful way. It’s a statue of temperature.”