Section 3. To pair with photo of Susie standing outside of the Mecca Post Office.
Collection
Warner Graves Collection
Publication Details
Publication Type
Text Panel
Dimensions
Height
19 in
Width
16 in
Dimension Notes
Mounted on gatorfoam. Attaches to two foam blocks to situate it away from the wall and over the accompanying photograph.
Interpretative Labels
Label Type
Cultural/Historical Context
Label
MECCA AND THE TRIANGLE RANCHO
In 1916, Susie's family moved to a ranch near the Salton Sea to grow dates and citrus. The Sea had formed just a decade before due to a breach in a levee. Mecca at the time was a supply stop for the prospectors and desert rats who wandered the wilderness to the east. It was formerly a stage stop on the Bradshaw Trail, an old gold road Susie and Lula would document in their photos. The family's Triangle Rancho was six miles south of Mecca on Grapefruit Blvd, the road to the Salton Sea. If you drive that way today, look for the sign that says Palm Island Drive--formerly the site of the Triangle Rancho.
Susie took the job as postmaster here--beating out male contenders--in 1926, and went to work at 180 feet below sea level. Her job made her one of the most popular characters in the desert, as everyone from the Salton Sea to the Pinto Basin came to Mecca for their mail. They enticed Susie with tales and legends of the wilderness to the east.
