What is the history of Trona, California?
Starting in the late 1800s mining industry set up around Searles Dry Lake to miningmine borax. Trona was officially established in 1913, as a self-contained company town, wholly operated by its resident mining company to house employees. Employees were paid in company scrip instead of cash. The mining company also built a library, a scrip-accepting for-profit grocery store, a school, basic housing, and minimal recreation facilities. The Trona Railway was built in 1913-14 to provide the town with a rail connection to the Southern Pacific (now the Union Pacific) line at Searles. The railway still operates today. Boom and bustEconomic booms and busts followed. Its most notable boom occurred during World War I, when Trona was the only reliable American source of potash, an important element used in the production of gunpowder. Today, Searles Valley Minerals, Inc.’s soda ash processing plant remains the largest firm in town. Other operations nearby include evaporative salt extraction from t
