[6] It was first settled by a few veterans who had worked at the Marine base, followed later by drifters – then recreational vehicle owners, searching for free camping spots outside Palm Springs.

[4] Leonard Knight, an early settler who created the Salvation Mountain art installation, was featured in Sean Penn's Into the Wild, released in 2007.

[8] An article in Smithsonian magazine in October 2018 referred to the community as a "Squatters’ Paradise" which locals consider to be "one of America's last free places."

"[3] Slab City is located on roughly 640 acres (260 hectares) of public land,[9] near the east shore of the Salton Sea.

The area has a large amount of sunshine year round, due to its stable descending air and high pressure.

Since the 1950s, Slab City has drawn a variety of people, such as anarchists, artists, eccentrics, outcasts, retirees, and the impoverished.

[2][15] A 1990 Chicago Tribune article by a journalist who stayed in the camp for a week estimated that winter residents (at the time) were mostly senior citizens over 60 years old.

[17][18] According to the San Diego Union-Tribune's Fred Dickey in 2012, the most common source of income among the permanent residents is "probably" SSI checks.

[22] The closest body of civilization with proper law enforcement is approximately four miles (six kilometers) southwest of Slab City, in Niland, where residents often went for basic shopping as of 1990.

[2][23] The settlement also has an internet cafe, a hostel,[24] and a skatepark built inside what remains of the military base swimming pool.

[10] During the 2020 pandemic, most tourist destinations, including Salvation Mountain, The Range, and Slab City's Library, were closed.

[2] Located just east of California State Route 111, the entrance to Slab City is easily recognized by the colorful Salvation Mountain, which is a small hill approximately three stories tall and entirely covered in latex paint, concrete and adobe, and festooned with Bible verses.

[25] The work is a 50 ft-tall piece of religious folk art, "an unofficial centrepiece for the community and [cementing] the area’s anarchic creative identity," according to a 2020 report.

[33] In early 2007, Charlie Russell left his job in the technology industry, packed all his belongings into a shipping container, and sent it to a trash-strewn field, where he began to surround his two cars with sculptures.

East Jesus pieces are described as decaying, or growing, but always in a state of transformation -unlike traditional galleries- due both to the intense climate, and the thousands of contributing artists who have added to the installation.

[36] The Range is an open-air nightclub complete with stage, lights, amplifiers, and speakers, with tattered couches and old chairs for seating.

Every Saturday night at around dusk, locals and visitors meet for a talent show that features permanent resident musicians and anyone else who wants to get on stage and perform.

Some of these "Slabbers" or "Year-Rounders" derive their living from government programs and have been driven to Slab City by poverty or job loss.

[18] As of a January 2020 report, Slab City is composed of "more than a dozen individual neighborhoods ... small camps of people with their own particular rules and culture."

Amenities include The Range, a makeshift library, RV rental units, an internet cafe, and establishments that sell food, though most shopping is done at the town of Niland.

[19] In 2015, the New York Times reported that the usual cause for police response to Slab City is over camping boundary disputes, sometimes burglary, but that methamphetamine use is a recurrent problem.