Views of the
Borax
Industry, ca. 1898-ca. 1915
Processed by Katherine Ruiz.
The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
1997
Views of the
Borax
Industry, ca. 1898-ca. 1915
BANC PIC 1905.17174--PIC
The Bancroft Library
University of California
Berkeley, California
1997
Finding aid and digital representations of archival materials funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the
Humanities.
- Processed and encoded by:
- California Heritage Digital Image Access Project staff in The Bancroft Library and The Library's Electronic Text Unit
- Digital images processed by:
- The Library Photographic Service
- Finding aid completed:
- December 1996
© 1997 The Regents of the University of California
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
:1
Bayonne Refinery, looking at front of building from the dock, showing warehouse in the foreground and trestle.
:2
Bayonne Refinery - north side of building.
:3
Bayonne Refinery - west view of building showing Glycerine Lye tanks in the foreground.
:4
Engine room Bayonne Refinery which develops power and light to operate the plant.
:5
Boiler room Bayonne Refinery, with a capacity of 2000 H. P.
:6
Storage bunkers Bayonne Refinery where Borate of lime and coal are received from canal boats and stored.
:7
Laboratory Bayonne Refinery where analyses of the Crude material and other working tests of the process are worked out.
:8
Mill room in Bayonne Refinery where the Crude material is crushed and ground.
:9
Filler press room Bayonne Refinery where the liquor is leeched from the residue Lime which forms a part of the process.
:10
This shows
Borax
crystallizing tanks, the method of crystallizing and the men removing the finished product from the tanks.
:11
Showing Refined
Borax
in cars after it has been taken from the crystallizing tanks. It is then broken from the wire hangers, put throught [sic]
rolls and run up to storage bins.
:12
Mill at the Bayonne Refinery for grinding
Borax
into powder which is afterwards put into barrels and packages.
:14
Packing room Bayonne Refinery showing 20 Mule Team Package
Borax
and other cartons being folded on machines prior to being filled with the various 20 Mule Team Products.
:15
Filling and weighing machines where 20 Mule Team
Borax
is packed into cartons by automatic machinery.
:16
Boric Acid crystallizing room in the Bayonne Refinery showing the Boric Acid in process of crystallization and also showing
the finished product in the hands of a workman.
:17
Boric Acid powdering mill in Bayonne Refinery showing the packing of powdered Boric Acid into barrels. Crystal Boric and Granulated
Boric are also packed into barrels in this same room.
:18
Stripping room Soap Department Bayonne Refinery showing the method of removing the sides and ends of Soap frames after the
soap has cooled.
:19
Slabbing and cutting tables Soap Dept. Bayonne Refinery showing the frames of soap cut into slabs by machine on the left,
which are then sent to the cutting table shown at the right-hand side of the table, where the slabs are cut into bars and
sent to the tunnels for drying.
:20
Press room Soap Dept. Bayonne Refinery showing tunnels where the soap is dried before going to the presses. The presses are
in the foregound. After the soap is pressed it is put on a belt and delivered to the wrapping room.
:21
Soap Wrapping Room, Bayonne Refinery, showing automatic machine for wrapping soap. This machine wraps 115 cakes a minute.
The girls place the soap in cases which are afterwards nailed up and sent down in the elevator in the background to the Shipping
Room below.
:22
Soap chipping room Soap Dept. Bayonne Refinery showing man feeding soap into soap chipping machine which cuts the soap into
chips which are delivered into barrels on the floor below.
:23
Stock room Bayonne Refinery showing the various products ready for shipment.
:24
Electric railway Bayonne Refinery showing a train load of 20 Mule Team Products being sent to the dock for shipment to all
parts of the country.
:25
Borax
Refinery at Alameda, Cal. on the shore of San Francisco Bay.
:26
Wash-pans in the Alameda refinery where the crude mineral is washed for all the
Borax
it contains.
:27
View of the Crystallizing Room in the Alameda refinery.
:28
Another view of the Crystallizing Room in the Alameda refinery.
:29
Showing the Mill for powdering
borax
and the method of preparing it for shipment in barrels.
:30
The famous 20 Mule Team crossing the desert.
:31
A fine picture of the Mojave desert in California, over which the 20 Mule Team made regular trips from the mine to the railroad.
:32
Showing the 20 Mule Team resting at one of the camps on the way.
:33
A portion of Death Valley, Cal., showing Mount Blanco, the great
borax
deposit. This is the white mountain in the center of the picture.
:34
The Pacific Coast
Borax
Company's office in Death Valley, near Mount Blanco.
:35
Showing a salt marsh in Death Valley, over which it is practically impossible to cross with safety.
:36
Showing the grave of some prospector or teamster who perished in Death Valley.
:37
A remnant of an old emigrant's outfit left by the emigrants who perished while attempting to cross Death Valley in 1850.
:38
The remains of some ill-fated ox who perished in an alkali flat.
:39
Showing the superintendent of the mines in Death Valley approaching the works. The white streak showing in the distance is
alkali.
:40
This shows a pile of crude borate mineral near Death Valley
Borax
Works.
:41
Grease-wood material used for fuel in Death Valley.
:42
Greenland Ranch, an oasis in the desert. The property of the Pacific Coast
Borax
Company in Death Valley.
:43
A party of prospectors on the desert searching for
Borax
.
:44
A view of one of the
Borax
mines during the days of the 20 Mule Team.
:45
A
Borax
miner about to enter his home in an abandoned tunnel. Note the miner's candle in his right hand and the canteen of water
by his left side.
:46
20 Mule Team unloading at railroad in Daggett, Cal., after its long trip across the desert.
:47
The cabin occupied by Mr. F.M. Smith to Nevada when he discovered
Borax
.
:48
The first boiling pan used by Mr. Smith in Nevada.
:49
Borax
transportation in the future. A dream, but not an impossibility.