Barstow is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 21,119 at the 2000 census.

Route 66 ran through Barstow and the town's name is mentioned in the lyrics to the song, "Route 66". Barstow is also mentioned in Hunter S. Thompson's famous novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The city is a major regional transportation center. Several highways, including Interstate 15 and Interstate 40, converge on the city, and it is the site of a large rail classification yard, belonging to the BNSF Railway. The Union Pacific Railroad also runs through town on Trackage rights on BNSF's Main line to Daggett, California, where the UP heads off to Salt Lake City, and the BNSF heads to Chicago il.

History

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Barstow's roots come from the rich mining history of the Mojave Desert. Because of the influx of miners coming into Calico and Daggett because of the discovery of Silver in the 1860s, new railroads were being constructed to transport the goods.

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