Holy City is an unincorporated community in Santa Clara County, California. With only one permanent resident, it is arguably a ghost town. The town is located in the Santa Cruz Mountains, off State Route 17 on Old Santa Cruz Highway, at 37°09′25″N 121°58′44″W / 37.1568904°N 121.9788476°W / 37.1568904; -121.9788476Coordinates: 37°09′25″N 121°58′44″W / 37.1568904°N 121.9788476°W / 37.1568904; -121.9788476 (37.1568904, -121.9788476). It is part of the Lexington Hills census-designated place. Its ZIP code is 95026 and its area code 408. Holy City was founded in 1919 by cult-leader William E. Riker and about thirty of his followers. Calling his ideology "The Perfect Christian Divine Way", Riker preached celibacy, temperance, white supremacy, and segregation of the races and sexes. He apparently exempted himself from this ideology, as he had previously been a bigamist and later married one of his followers. He also encouraged his followers to renounce material possessions by giving all of their wealth to him. It was with this wealth that Riker bought the 200 acres (0.81 km) that became Holy City. Here he offered tourist services including a restaurant and gas station. The town incorporated in 1926. A radio station offering a variety of programming was built in 1924 and went on the air on July 7 of that year under the call letters KFQU. Though the call letters may be similar to "", they were issued sequentially and could not have been deliberate. The station went off the air in December 1931, and had its license renewal denied on January 11, 1932, due to "irregularities. " Ironically, the "religious" community had no church; services were held in Riker's home. Holy City expanded to three hundred residents during the 1930s. The town began to decline in the 1940s. With the construction of Highway 17, Holy City was no longer on the main route through the mountains. With the end of the Depression, many of Riker's followers were able to find work elsewhere. Riker himself was arrested in 1942 for supporting Adolf Hitler, though he was later acquitted. The town disincorporated in 1959, and Riker lost control of the property. Several of the buildings mysteriously burned down shortly afterwards. The Holy City Zoo, a comedy club in San Francisco had the sign, table and chairs that all came from the original site. The 142-acre site has been for sale through local realtors, as the May 2008 photo shows.

What is constitutional law?

Constitutional law attorneys handle cases involving the construction and interpretation of federal and state constitutions, including individual rights and governmental powers. Constitutional law cases can involve issues like First Amendment rights -- such as freedom of speech, press, and religion -- and the checks and balances on authority among different branches of government. Most of the federal constitutional rights are found in the Bill of Rights, that was created originally as a limitation on the action by the federal government, but many of those rights are also applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.

Answers to constitutional law issues in California

The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution says that you have a right to be free of unreasonable police searches and...

The general criteria for making an arrest is what is referred to as probable cause. Probable cause arises when there...

There are two different types of warrants that may be issued:

  • arrest warrants - an order issued by a...

The Miranda decision relates specifically to the rights of a criminal suspect after he has been detained by the...

Bail is typically set by a magistrate or a judge who considers the seriousness of the offense and the likelihood of...

In certain kinds of cases, lawyers charge what is called a contingency fee. Instead of billing by the hour, the...

Gambling is subject to legislation at both the state and federal level that bans it from certain areas, limits the...

After conviction and sentencing, a defendant has the opportunity to file an appeal of his sentence. If the conviction...

Students have certain rights depending on whether they are attending a private or public school or university. A...

Federal court opinions concerning constitutional law in California