Built in 1894. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. 10 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1953.
From the record
“The Keys Ranch is the prime example of early settlement in the Joshua Tree National Park area. Bill Keys was the area's leading character, and his ranch is a symbol of the resourcefulness of early settlers.”
Wikipedia article Keys Desert Queen Ranch, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 98 National Register listings published here for San Bernardino County · listed in 1975 · category: District · built in 1894, by William F. Keys.
National Register reference number.75000174- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Then and now
1953 to 1982
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
29 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
19531982
Fires near this property
69 since 1992
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 69 fires within 5 miles of Keys Desert Queen Ranch
between 1992 and 2020, burning about 180 acres in total. 20 started naturally. 2 were recorded as arson.
Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted
here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Reported cause
Fires
Natural
20
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
18
Recreation and ceremony
17
Smoking
3
Fireworks
3
Debris and open burning
3
Equipment and vehicle use
2
Arson/incendiarism
2
Other causes
1
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
3 workings within 5 miles of Keys Desert Queen Ranch: 1 occurrence, 1 past producer, 1 prospect.
None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Bismuth, Gold. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
United States Geological Survey topographic
sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the middle of the area the National Park Service maps for this listing, then
testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
Other National Register properties close
enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both
positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties
to their map sheets.
Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Block
