Muroc, #California, was originally a railroad water stop in the early 1900s. The name honors early settlers Ralph and Clifford Corum, whose surname is spelled backwards as "Muroc". In 1910, the Corum family settled at the edge of the lakebed and raised turkeys and alfalfa. They also located other homesteaders in the area for a fee of $1 per acre, and earned contracts for clearing land and drilling water wells. They then opened a general store and post office, but were unable to have the post office named "Corum" because there was already a Coram, California, so they reversed the spelling of their name and named it "Muroc". Racing events were held at Muroc dating back into the '20s and in 1937, over 90 #racecars (including eight modified Model T #Fords!) dashed across the desert. The following year, on May 15, 1938, over 225 racers showed up to compete in what must have been a cross between Burning Man and #Indy. #cartok #history #historytime #historybuff