Baker is a census-designated place located in San Bernardino County, California, US. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a total population of 735. Baker's ZIP Code is 92309 and the community is within area codes 442 and 760. History Baker was founded as a station on the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad in 1908 and was named for Richard C. Baker, business partner of Francis Marion Smith in building the railroad. Baker later became president of the T&T himself. Baker was established in 1929 by Ralph Jacobus Fairbanks (1857–1942), who was an American prospector, entrepreneur, and pioneer who established several towns in the Death Valley area of California, including Fairbanks Springs (1904–05) and Shoshone (1910). It is the site of a vacant, 223-bed for-profit prison formerly operated by Cornell Corrections which experienced a major riot on December 2, 2003, four weeks before it was temporarily closed. It was permanently closed on December 25, 2009. GEO Group purchased Cornell Companies, its owner, on August 12, 2010. It had previously experienced escapes in August and November 1995 and two on July 15, 1997. Geography and climate Baker is located at (35.265099, -116.074768). Baker is located in the Mojave Desert at the junction of Interstate 15 and SR 127 (Death Valley Road). Its elevation is approximately above sea level, which is much lower than either Barstow or Las Vegas, due to its location at the southern end of the Death Valley geological depression. The Cronese Mountains are located southwest of the community. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 2.7 square miles (7.0 km), all of it land. Summer temperatures in Baker routinely exceed ; 2007 saw a record of . Demographics The 2010 United States Census reported that Baker had a population of 735. The population density was . The racial makeup of Baker was 302 (41.1%) White (26.5% Non-Hispanic White), 1 (0.1%) African American, 5 (0.7%) Native American, 10 (1.4%) Asian, 14 (1.9%) Pacific Islander, 380 (51.7%) from other races, and 23 (3.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 502 persons (68.3%). The Census reported that 731 people (99.5% of the population) lived in households, 4 (0.5%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 215 households, out of which 122 (56.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 106 (49.3%)