Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch Resort
Encyclopedia
The Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch Resort is a privately owned luxury resort in California
's Death Valley National Park
operated by Xanterra.
and opened on February 1, 1927, with twelve rooms. Richard C. Baker
, then president of Pacific Coast Borax sought to open Death Valley
to tourism in an effort to increase revenue on the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad
originally built by Francis Marion Smith
for shipping borax
, but in need of new sources of revenue. 20 additional rooms, as well as a swimming pool and tennis courts were added in the 1930s. The Fred Harvey Company
operated the facilities for decades. The desert Inn now has 66 rooms, located on the hillside, is open April through October.
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
's Death Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park is a national park in the U.S. states of California and Nevada located east of the Sierra Nevada in the arid Great Basin of the United States. The park protects the northwest corner of the Mojave Desert and contains a diverse desert environment of salt-flats, sand dunes,...
operated by Xanterra.
Furnace Creek Inn
The Furnace Creek Inn was originally constructed by the Pacific Coast Borax CompanyPacific Coast Borax Company
The Pacific Coast Borax Company was a United States mining company founded in 1890 by the American borax magnate Francis "Borax" Smith, the "Borax King".-History:...
and opened on February 1, 1927, with twelve rooms. Richard C. Baker
Richard C. Baker
Richard C. Baker was the British business partner of Francis Marion "Borax" Smith and eventually became president of the Pacific Coast Borax Company and the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad....
, then president of Pacific Coast Borax sought to open Death Valley
Death Valley
Death Valley is a desert valley located in Eastern California. Situated within the Mojave Desert, it features the lowest, driest, and hottest locations in North America. Badwater, a basin located in Death Valley, is the specific location of the lowest elevation in North America at 282 feet below...
to tourism in an effort to increase revenue on the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad
Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad
The Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, the T&T, was a class II railroad extending through remote reaches of the Mojave Desert from the Santa Fe Railway railhead at Ludlow, California, through Death Valley and Amargosa Valley, terminating at the Mining towns of Tonopah and Goldfield in the Great Basin...
originally built by Francis Marion Smith
Francis Marion Smith
Francis Marion Smith was an American miner, business magnate and civic builder in the Mojave Desert, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Oakland, California.Frank Smith created the extensive interurban public transit Key System in Oakland, the East Bay,...
for shipping borax
Borax
Borax, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral, and a salt of boric acid. It is usually a white powder consisting of soft colorless crystals that dissolve easily in water.Borax has a wide variety of uses...
, but in need of new sources of revenue. 20 additional rooms, as well as a swimming pool and tennis courts were added in the 1930s. The Fred Harvey Company
Fred Harvey Company
The origin of the Fred Harvey Company can be traced to the 1875 opening of two railroad eating houses located at Wallace, Kansas and Hugo, Colorado on the Kansas Pacific Railway. These cafés were opened by Fred Harvey, then a freight agent for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad...
operated the facilities for decades. The desert Inn now has 66 rooms, located on the hillside, is open April through October.