Needles, California
Needles was named after a group of pointy rock columns, on the Arizona side of the river. These were called "The Needles". The town was founded in 1883 when people were building a railroad (the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway). They needed a bridge to cross the Colorado River. At first, there was only a group of tents where workers lived. Soon, people built stores, restaurants, laundries, and saloons. Needles was the largest port, north of Yuma, on the river.