Black Rock City History

Black Rock City 2009 (Photo by Scott London)

Black Rock City 2009 (Photo by Scott London)

You could easily spend hours, if not days, digging through the Burning Man historical archives. Of course, these are mere artifacts — written and photographic echos — of the deep and rich cultural history of a community that can only be truly understood through the collective experience of its participants. But barring that, this collection serves as a solid starting point … and there are some amazing things to be explored.

There are the annual event archives from 1986 to the present day; the Afterburn Reports, which chronicle the events and activities that went into creating Burning Man each year; the MOOP Map, which show the results of our Leave No Trace efforts through the years; Census Reports which show the demographics of our community; Black Rock City Maps, mapping the evolution of our city’s layout; and our archive of theme camps, the cultural fabric of Black Rock City.

The other key part of Black Rock City’s story is our Art History.