Pacific Coast Borax Company

Pacific Coast Borax Company

Company type	Private
Industry	Mining, Chemical
Founded	1890 (1890)
Founder	Francis Smith
Defunct	1956 (1956)
Fate	Merged with United States Potash Corporation to form U.S. Borax
Headquarters	Oakland , United States
Area served	United States
Key people	Francis Smith (Founder), Christian Brevoort Zabriskie (Vice President until 1933)
Products	Borax and borate minerals, Boraxo hand soap, 20 Mule Team Borax brand products

The Pacific Coast Borax Company (PCB) was an American mining enterprise established in 1890 by Francis Smith, a prominent figure in the borax industry often referred to as the "Borax King".

History

The beginnings of the Pacific Coast Borax Company can be traced back to Mineral County, Nevada, near Mono Lake. Initially, Smith provided firewood to a borax operation at Columbus Marsh before discovering Teel's Marsh. Analysis of samples from Teel's Marsh indicated borate levels surpassing those of previously known deposits. Smith filed claims there, marking the start of his borax mining ventures.

With support from his brother Julius and financial backing from the Storey brothers, mining activities commenced in 1872 under the name Smith and Storey Brothers Borax Co. After purchasing the Storeys' shares in 1873, the company was renamed Smith Brothers Borax Co., and around 1884 it became Teel's Marsh Borax Co. In 1880, Smith acquired Pacific Borax Company (which did not yet include "Coast" in its title). Together with William Tell Coleman, Smith expanded operations at Harmony Borax Works and Meridian Borax Company, consolidating these into the Pacific Borax, Salt & Soda Company in 1888. The current name, Pacific Coast Borax Co., was adopted in 1890 following Smith's acquisition of Coleman's borax assets after Coleman's bankruptcy.

Processing plants

PCB maintained processing facilities located in Alameda, California, as well as Bayonne, New Jersey.

Of particular note is PCB’s refinery in Alameda, constructed in 1893 and designed by Ernest L. Ransome. This facility was among the first reinforced concrete buildings in the United States and featured innovative ribbed floor systems along with concrete column supports.

Death Valley

In 1890, Smith purchased Harmony Borax Works from Coleman. The company transported borax using the Death Valley Railroad, which extended eastward from Ryan, California to Death Valley Junction. This line connected with a narrow gauge Death Valley Railroad that linked to the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad (T&T). The T&T ran from Amargosa Valley southward to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway terminus located in Ludlow, California. A locomotive from the Death Valley Railroad is exhibited at the Borax Museum within Death Valley National Park.

Other mining ventures

Following the downturn in Death Valley mining, Smith broadened operations into the Calico Mountains (California) close to Yermo, California, where the Borate and Daggett Railroad was constructed to facilitate transport of materials to Daggett, California. The firm also advanced processing methods for minerals extracted from Searles Lake in the Searles Valley, founding the company settlement of Westend and establishing a siding on the Trona Railway to enable shipments through Searles, California. Christian Brevoort Zabriskie, who became part of the company in 1885 and served as vice president until 1933, is commemorated by Zabriskie Point overlooking Death Valley. A narrow-gauge steam locomotive from the Westend chemical facility is preserved at Knott's Berry Farm.

20 Mule Team Borax

The firm skillfully developed and promoted the 20 Mule Team Borax brand to market its products effectively. This name pays homage to the twenty-mule teams that hauled borax out of Death Valley during the 1880s, initially from Harmony Borax Works near Furnace Creek Ranch, which was owned by William Tell Coleman prior to its acquisition by Smith in 1890. Additionally, the company manufactured Boraxo hand soap. The Death Valley Days radio series aired from 1930 until 1951, with its television adaptation once hosted by "Borateem-pitchman" and future U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

Death Valley Junction Civic Center

Between 1923 and 1924, the Pacific Coast Borax Company invested $300,000 to construct a U-shaped Civic Center complex in Death Valley Junction, California, designed by architect Alexander Hamilton McCulloh in the Spanish Colonial Style. These adobe structures contained company offices, a retail store, employee housing, a hotel with 23 rooms, dining facilities, a lobby, gymnasium, billiards room, and an ice cream parlor.

Located at the northeast corner, Corkill Hall functioned as a versatile space for dances, church gatherings, film screenings, funerals, and community meetings before its transformation into the Amargosa Opera House in 1967. That same year saw renovations on the west side to create the Amargosa Hotel.

Death Valley Hotel

In 1926, the Pacific Coast Borax Company founded the Death Valley Hotel Company to build a Mission Revival style luxury hotel near Furnace Creek springs at the base of the Funeral Mountains. The Furnace Creek Inn opened its doors in February 1927 and was reachable by motor coach from Ryan station on the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad.

U.S. Borax

The merger in 1956 between Pacific Coast Borax Company and United States Potash Corporation resulted in U.S. Borax, which was acquired by Rio Tinto in 1967. Now operating under Rio Tinto Borax, it produces nearly fifty percent of global borate supplies. In 1988, U.S. Borax sold off its consumer product lines—including Boraxo, Borateem, and 20 Mule Team—to Dial Corporation. The company remains active at the Rio Tinto Borax Mine, California’s largest open-pit mine located near the company town of Boron in the Mojave Desert.

The Trona facility was eventually incorporated into Searles Valley Minerals.

See also

• Panamint Valley
• Indian Wells Valley
• Potash wars (California)

References

• - ILWU - Borax Miners. (2010)

External links

• Archival materials on the Borax Industry, circa 1898–circa 1915, The Bancroft Library