Collection Summary
Information for Researchers
Administrative Information
Background
Scope and Content
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Views of the
Borax
Industry,
Date: ca. 1898-ca. 1915
Collection Number: BANC PIC 1905.17174--PIC
Creator:
Pacific Coast
Borax
Company
Extent:
49 photographic prints ; 20 x 25 cm.
49 digital objects
Repository:
The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley.
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Languages Represented:
English
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is available for use.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish photographs must be submitted
in writing to the Curator of Pictorial Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library
as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must
also be obtained by the reader.
Copyright restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted
to research and educational purposes.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item],
Views of the
borax
industry, ca. 1898-ca. 1915,
BANC PIC 1905.17174--PIC, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Digital Representations Available
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
Unknown
Background
The Pacific Coast
Borax
Company was founded in 1890 by Francis Marion Smith, who created the company from an amalgamation of several holdings and
mine sites in Death Valley, California, and Nevada, and other sites along the Nevada-California border. The company mined
for colemanite - a type of
borax
which was borate of lime. Colemanite contains a higher boron oxide content than other types of
borax
, a material found in crystal form which is used to work and weld gold. Boron products can also be used in glass manufacturing
and as a plant nutrient.
In 1899,
Borax
Consolidated, Limited was created in order to search for other sources of raw material besides those in California, and to
expand the foreign refining operations. The new company had absorbed Pacific
Borax
and Redwood's Chemical Works. The company continued expanding operations in the southwestern United States with the construction
of railroads, which began replacing the 20 Mule Teams. Improved production methods kept prices down and introduced a great
variety of borate materials to the market. In 1915 the company acquired the site of the present refinery, at Wilmington, California.
(
Source: Woodman, Ruth C.
The Story of the Pacific Coast
Borax
Co.
Compiled by Ruth C. Woodman ; designed by Ann Rosener. [Los Angeles]:
Borax
Consolidated Limited, 1951.)
Scope and Content