About Us

Since 1993

The Mojave Desert Heritage and Cultural Association is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax exempt corporation formed in 1993 to ensure the effort and resources focused on the Goffs Schoolhouse property and surrounding Cultural Center will exist in perpetuity.

The Mojave Desert Heritage and Cultural Association was formed as a nonprofit extension of the already-established volunteer organization, the Friends of the Mojave Road.

The goals and objectives of the Friends of the Mojave Road are simple. We support leaving the desert as free as possible without risking destruction of the basic environmental values.

Our approach to achieving these goals is through education. That education is accomplished with the Mojave Road Report newsletter, educational field trips in the desert, and especially through our Tales of the Mojave Road publications—books and guides that people use when they are in the desert.

History of the MDHCA by Dennis G. Casebier

The initial seed that has grown into the Goffs Cultural Center sprouted not twenty-five, but actually more than fifty, years ago. In the summer of 1953, I enlisted in the Marine Corps determined to participate in the war in Korea. While I was in boot camp, the North Koreans heard I was coming and that was enough to induce them to sign the armistice (anyway, that's the way I always tell it). Hence, I did not go to Korea, but instead I was sent to a radio-telegraph school at the Marines' Communications Electronics Battalion in San Diego for six months and then I was "banished" to the sprawling and isolated new Marine base at Twentynine Palms. I arrived there in May of 1954 and that's where and when all this began. For me, it was love at my first close-up sight of the desert. The area—29 Palms and the Morongo Basin—still had that historic pioneer and homesteader charm to it. I was hooked...

Staff

Laura Misajet

Director of Museum Operations
& Public Outreach

Site Manager & Public Outreach

Meet The Board

The MDHCA Board of Directors is comprised of accomplished men and women from widely differing fields of endeavor. These individuals give their time, support, and invaluable experience to guide the Association in achieving its Mission. They meet regularly at the Goffs Cultural Center to conduct the organization's business. Meeting dates are published in the Calendar.