Anchorhead / Legends Anchorhead was one of the first settlements on Tatooine . Abandoned and resettled many times , it lost significance until it was only a minor outpost for several nearby moisture farms where youths such as Luke Skywalker and his friends spent much of their free time . The Jawas often referred to Anchorhead as " Old City New " . Anchorhead was part of the Great Chott salt flat region . History . Settlement . Anchorhead was one of the oldest settlements on the planet Tatooine . Located nearly 80 kilometers from Mos Eisley , it was originally a mining outpost . It was abandoned and resettled many times , as each mining company came to discover the poor quality of the ore located there . The most notable of the mining operations was carried out by Czerka Corporation in 3956 BBY . The companies would abandon their equipment each time , due to the prohibitive costs of transporting it off - world . The indigenous Jawas would take this abandoned equipment as their own . This gave rise to the use of Sandcrawlers — mobile smelting machines — as well as mobile homes for the Jawas . Old Republic . The Jedi Revan and his companions landed at Anchorhead in 3956 BBY . They hoped to locate a hidden Star Map , a technological remnant of the Infinite Empire , which would help them find the Star Forge . At the time , Czerka Corporation ' s mining operations were going poorly , as the ore was substandard and word was getting out . Though Motta the Hutt established a Swoop racing track and the Ithorian Fazza Utral built a hunting lodge , attracting other forms of business to fill company coffers wasn ' t working , either . Worst of all , ore shipments were being intercepted and destroyed by frequent Sandpeople attacks . Revan offered his assistance , and was able to earn the Tusken Raiders ' trust , enough to negotiate with them . They would not agree to stop the attacks , but the Sand people did agree to " reduce " them , and to free some of their prisoners , including several Jawas and Mission Vao ' s brother , Griff Vao . Sometime after the ore operations ended , Czerka began a secret weapons research program on the planet . Czerka suddenly pulled out sometime during the Cold War , leading the settlement to become a hive for smugglers and other criminals . By the rise of the Galactic Empire , it had been resettled , but cities like Mos Eisley and Mos Espa had been built , and stripped the settlement of its preeminence . Galactic Empire . By the time of the Galactic Empire , Anchorhead , along with other settlements on Tatooine , had become populated again . It could be found a few miles east of the Lars homestead , south of the now - bustling spaceport of Mos Eisley . Anchorhead itself primarily consisted of moisture farmers . It was governed by the Anchorhead Municipal Council . The city became a place where many youth , including Luke Skywalker and his friends , loved to visit and hang out . Sometime after Biggs Darklighter left Tatooine , there was much unrest among the Tusken Raiders . They even raided the outskirts of Anchorhead . Anchorhead itself contained a dozen pourstone stores , two cantinas ( including The Weary Traveler ) , a market , and Tosche Station on the outskirts of town . During the Galactic Civil war , Anchorhead Base served as a base for Rebel operatives assigned to purchase black market weapons from nearby cities . In 8 ABY , Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo stopped there to evade the Empire on their quest to find a piece of Alderaan art , " Killik Twilight " . Behind the scenes . In " " , Luke asks his uncle , Owen Lars , if he can see some of his friends there . In a deleted scene , Luke can be seen there with Biggs Darklighter , who would later fight alongside Luke in the Battle of Yavin . These scenes were filmed at Sidi Jemour in Djerba , Tunisia . In the LucasArts game " Star Wars Galaxies : An Empire Divided " , Anchorhead is described as a town in which those sympathetic to the Rebel Alliance can walk out in the open , and it is noted that " If there was any town on Tatooine that was the farthest from Imperial rule , Anchorhead would be the one . " In another game , " " , Anchorhead Base is where pilot Rookie One trains on the T - 16 skyhopper . The base ' s main hangar opens into Beggar ' s Canyon , which served as a perfect flight training route .