Lila C is a former settlement in Inyo County

Inyo County, California

-National protected areas:* Death Valley National Park * Inyo National Forest * Manzanar National Historic Site-Major highways:* U.S. Route 6* U.S. Route 395* State Route 127* State Route 136* State Route 168* State Route 178...

, California

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...

. It was located 6.25 miles (10 km) southwest of Death Valley Junction

Death Valley Junction, California

Death Valley Junction is a tiny Mojave Desert community in unincorporated Inyo County, California, at the intersection of SR 190 and SR 127, just east of Death Valley National Park. The zip code is 92328, the elevation is , and the population fewer than 20. The city limits sign reports a...

, at an elevation of 2562 feet (781 m).

Borax Company

The settlement was connected by rail to the Lila C mine, which produced Colemanite

Colemanite

Colemanite is a borate mineral found in evaporite deposits of alkaline lacustrine environments. Colemanite is a secondary mineral that forms by alteration of borax and ulexite....

 for the Pacific Coast Borax Company

Pacific 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:...

, from which it got its name. The property was named by its owner William Tell Coleman

William Tell Coleman

William Tell Coleman was an American pioneer. He was born in Cynthiana, Harrison County, Kentucky, and was educated at St. Louis University.-Committees of Vigilance:...

, for his daughter, Lila C. Coleman. 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,...

 subsequently obtained the property and started the first 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...

 operations there in 1907. Production began several months before 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...

 had reached the mine, and mule teams were used to cover the remaining distance until the railroad arrived. The name was also changed to Ryan at that time, in honor of John Ryan, "Borax" Smith's trusted supervisor.

The Ryan post office was opened here in 1907, and transferred to (new) Ryan

Ryan, California

Ryan is an unincorporated community in Inyo County, California.[1] It lies at an elevation of 3045 feet south of the Amargosa Desert in the Mojave Desert.[1]...

in 1914. After that, Lila C was then also known as "Old Ryan."