Zzyzx California, is a real town. The town was founded by the ‘King Of Quacks’ Curtis H Springer. He and his wife, Filed a mining claim for the land; Consisting of 12,800 acers back in 1944. They then decided to give it a weird name, And to get people to come to their ” Mineral Springs and Health Resort”.
The name was chosen as it would be the absolute last name in any listing, And they wanted this to be the last name in health. They ran the business for 30 years before, The government figured out they did not have a legitimate claim to the land. And as a result they were evicted in 1974.
Curtis also spent a short time in jail for bogus health claims. And was dealt the name “king of Quacks” by the American Medical Association. Today it is the site of desert studies, A field station of California State University. As for how to pronounce it, ” Zye-Zex”