Trona, California
Encyclopedia
Trona is an unincorporated community
in San Bernardino County, California
. In 2000 it had a population of 2,742. Trona is at the western edge of Searles Lake
, a dry lake bed in Searles Valley
, southwest of Death Valley
. The town takes its name from the mineral trona
, abundant in the lakebed.
It is about 170 miles (274 km) northeast of Los Angeles
, on State Route 178
. The ZIP code is 93562.
Trona is known for its isolation and desolation, as well as the nearby Trona Pinnacles
. The local school plays on a dirt football field because the searing heat and highly saline soil kills grass. At one point it boasted an 18 hole golf course that was all sand except for the "greens", which were a softer grade of brown colored dirt.
Starting in the late 1800s mining industry set up around Searles Dry Lake to mine
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.
Economic 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 the dry lake bed's surface, and a lime quarry. Searles Valley Minerals is the largest employer in Trona, and many employees live in Ridgecrest, California
, commuting daily to Trona.
Trona also serves as the headquarters and base of operations for the Trona Railway
, a shortline
railroad.
Trona High School
has 162 students and competes as the Tornadoes. It has the only dirt American football field in the United States
outside of Alaska
.
A number of Hollywood films have been shot in the surrounding desert (particularly around the Trona Pinnacles), including Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
and Planet of the Apes
. In the 2000s, the town itself served as the setting for two films, Trona (2005) and Just Add Water
(2008).
Located a few miles to the south are the Trona Pinnacles
, an unusual landscape consisting of more than 500 tufa
spires, some as high as 140 feet, rising from the bed of the Searles Lake basin.
Average annual precipitation is 3.98 inches (101.1 mm) and there an average of 18 days annually with measurable precipitation. The wettest year was 1941 with 9.01 inches (228.9 mm) and the driest year was 1953 with 0.41 inches (10.4 mm). The most precipitation in one month was 5.01 inches (127.3 mm) in January 1995. The most precipitation in 24 hours was 2.25 inches (57.2 mm) on August 15, 1984. Snowfall is very rare in Trona, averaging only 0.3 inches (7.6 mm), but there was 9 inches (228.6 mm) in January 1974.
, Trona is located in the 18th Senate
District, represented by Republican
Roy Ashburn
, and in the 32nd Assembly
District, represented by Republican Jean Fuller
. Federally, Searles Valley is located in California's 25th congressional district
, which has a Cook PVI
of R +7 and is represented by Republican Buck McKeon
.
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
in San Bernardino County, California
San Bernardino County, California
San Bernardino County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,035,210, up from 1,709,434 as of the 2000 census...
. In 2000 it had a population of 2,742. Trona is at the western edge of Searles Lake
Searles Lake
Searles Lake is an endorheic dry lake in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, with the mining community, Trona on its western shore. The evaporite basin is approximately long and at its widest point, yielding 1.7 million tons annually of industrial minerals within the basin to...
, a dry lake bed in Searles Valley
Searles Valley
Searles Valley is a valley in the northern Mojave Desert of California, with the northern half in Inyo County and the southern half in San Bernardino County, California, United States....
, southwest of 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...
. The town takes its name from the mineral trona
Trona
Trona ; Na3•2H2O is an evaporite mineral. It is mined as the primary source of sodium carbonate in the United States, where it has replaced the Solvay process used in most of the rest of the world for sodium carbonate production.- Etymology :The word "trona" comes to English by way of either...
, abundant in the lakebed.
It is about 170 miles (274 km) northeast of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, on State Route 178
California State Route 178
State Route 178 is a route that exists in two constructed segments. The gap in between segments is connected by various local roads and State Route 190 through Death Valley National Park....
. The ZIP code is 93562.
Trona is known for its isolation and desolation, as well as the nearby Trona Pinnacles
Trona Pinnacles
Trona PinnaclesDesignationNational Natural LandmarkLocationCaliforniaNearest CityTrona, CaliforniaCoordinatesArea Date of Establishment1968Governing BodyBureau of Land Management...
. The local school plays on a dirt football field because the searing heat and highly saline soil kills grass. At one point it boasted an 18 hole golf course that was all sand except for the "greens", which were a softer grade of brown colored dirt.
History
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
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...
.
Trona was officially established in 1913, as a self-contained company town
Company town
A company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...
, wholly operated by its resident mining company to house employees. Employees were paid in company scrip
Scrip
Scrip is an American term for any substitute for currency which is not legal tender and is often a form of credit. Scrips were created as company payment of employees and also as a means of payment in times where regular money is unavailable, such as remote coal towns, military bases, ships on long...
instead of cash. The mining company also built a library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, a scrip-accepting for-profit grocery store, a school, basic housing, and minimal recreation facilities. The Trona Railway
Trona Railway
The Trona Railway is a shortline railroad owned by Searles Valley Minerals.The TRC interchanges with the Union Pacific Railroad at Searles, California....
was built in 1913–14 to provide the town with a rail connection to the Southern Pacific
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
(now the Union Pacific) line at Searles. The railway still operates today.
Economic booms and busts
Boom and bust
A credit boom-bust cycle is an episode characterized by a sustained increase in several economics indicators followed by a sharp and rapid contraction. Commonly the boom is driven by a rapid expansion of credit to the private sector accompanied with rising prices of commodities and stock market index...
followed. Its most notable boom occurred during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, when Trona was the only reliable American source of potash
Potash
Potash is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. In some rare cases, potash can be formed with traces of organic materials such as plant remains, and this was the major historical source for it before the industrial era...
, an important element used in the production of gunpowder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
.
Today, Searles Valley Minerals Inc.
Searles Valley Minerals Inc.
Searles Valley Minerals Inc. is a raw materials mining and production company based in Overland Park, Kansas. It is owned by the Indian company Nirma. It has major operations in the Searles Valley and in Trona, California where it is the town's largest employer. The company produces borax, boric...
's soda ash processing plant remains the largest firm in town. Other operations nearby include evaporative salt extraction from the dry lake bed's surface, and a lime quarry. Searles Valley Minerals is the largest employer in Trona, and many employees live in Ridgecrest, California
Ridgecrest, California
Ridgecrest, formerly known as Crumville, was incorporated as a city in 1913. It is located in the Indian Wells Valley in northeastern Kern County, California, adjacent to the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake . Ridgecrest is the only incorporated city along US 395 in Kern County...
, commuting daily to Trona.
Trona also serves as the headquarters and base of operations for the Trona Railway
Trona Railway
The Trona Railway is a shortline railroad owned by Searles Valley Minerals.The TRC interchanges with the Union Pacific Railroad at Searles, California....
, a shortline
ShortLine
Short Line is a brand name for three different Coach USA companies, Hudson Transit Lines, Hudson Transit Corporation, and Chenango Valley Bus Lines that provide local, commuter and intercity bus service in lower New York State, primarily along the Route 17 and Southern Tier corridor.-Service...
railroad.
Trona High School
Trona High School is a public high school in Trona, California, United States.-Sports:Trona's football field is all-dirt, known as "the Pit". The hard dirt surface gives local players a home-field advantage, though the school's small size and the town's decreasing population means it can't always...
has 162 students and competes as the Tornadoes. It has the only dirt American football field in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
outside of Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
.
A number of Hollywood films have been shot in the surrounding desert (particularly around the Trona Pinnacles), including Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is a 1989 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the fifth feature in the franchise and the penultimate to star the cast of the original Star Trek science fiction television series...
and Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes (2001 film)
Planet of the Apes is a 2001 American science fiction film, based on Pierre Boulle's novel and a remake of the 1968 film of the same name. Tim Burton directed the film, which stars Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Clarke Duncan, Paul Giamatti, and Estella Warren. It tells the...
. In the 2000s, the town itself served as the setting for two films, Trona (2005) and Just Add Water
Just Add Water (film)
Just Add Water is a comedy film released on June 17, 2008. The film stars Dylan Walsh as a hardworking man living in the same small town in which he grew up, Danny DeVito as a gas station owner, and Justin Long as a meth dealer.- Plot :...
(2008).
Geography
The same collection of geologic forces which created the Searles Valley where Trona sits also created the natural resource of Searles Dry Lake, which contains rich deposits of chemicals, including dozens of minerals.Located a few miles to the south are the Trona Pinnacles
Trona Pinnacles
Trona PinnaclesDesignationNational Natural LandmarkLocationCaliforniaNearest CityTrona, CaliforniaCoordinatesArea Date of Establishment1968Governing BodyBureau of Land Management...
, an unusual landscape consisting of more than 500 tufa
Tufa
Tufa is a variety of limestone, formed by the precipitation of carbonate minerals from ambient temperature water bodies. Geothermally heated hot-springs sometimes produce similar carbonate deposits known as travertine...
spires, some as high as 140 feet, rising from the bed of the Searles Lake basin.
Climate
Trona has an arid climate with cool winters and hot summers. Average January temperatures are a maximum of 58.2 °F (14.6 °C) and a minimum of 32.9 °F (0.500000000003979 °C). Average July temperatures are a maximum of 105.5 °F (40.8 °C) and a minimum of 73.3 °F (22.9 °C). There are an average of 140.1 days with highs of 90 °F (32.2 °C) or higher and an average of 45.3 days with lows of 32 °F (0 °C) or lower. The record high temperature was 118 °F (47.8 °C) on August 13, 1933; July 25, 1943; May 27, 1951; and June 29, 1956. The record low temperature was 8 °F (-13.3 °C) on December 23, 1990.Average annual precipitation is 3.98 inches (101.1 mm) and there an average of 18 days annually with measurable precipitation. The wettest year was 1941 with 9.01 inches (228.9 mm) and the driest year was 1953 with 0.41 inches (10.4 mm). The most precipitation in one month was 5.01 inches (127.3 mm) in January 1995. The most precipitation in 24 hours was 2.25 inches (57.2 mm) on August 15, 1984. Snowfall is very rare in Trona, averaging only 0.3 inches (7.6 mm), but there was 9 inches (228.6 mm) in January 1974.
Politics
In the state legislatureCalifornia State Legislature
The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members...
, Trona is located in the 18th Senate
California State Senate
The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...
District, represented by Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Roy Ashburn
Roy Ashburn
Roy Arthur Ashburn is an American politician from Kern County, California. A Republican, he served as a California State Senator from 2002 to 2010 representing the 18th district. He previously served three terms in the California State Assembly, representing the 32nd district and 12 years on the...
, and in the 32nd Assembly
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
District, represented by Republican Jean Fuller
Jean Fuller
Jean Fuller is a U.S. politician who serves in the California State Senate. A Republican, she was previously a member of the California Assembly and the Superintendent of Schools for the Bakersfield City School District....
. Federally, Searles Valley is located in California's 25th congressional district
California's 25th congressional district
California's 25th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California that covers part of Los Angeles County and extends out to broad stretches of interior California along the Nevada border. It includes the cities of Santa Clarita, Palmdale, Lancaster, and the...
, which has a Cook PVI
Cook Partisan Voting Index
The Cook Partisan Voting Index , sometimes referred to as simply the Partisan Voting Index , is a measurement of how strongly an American congressional district or state leans toward one political party compared to the nation as a whole...
of R +7 and is represented by Republican Buck McKeon
Howard McKeon
Howard Philip "Buck" McKeon is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life, education and career:...
.
External links
- Trona on the Web
- Trona California: portrait of a mining town (includes an aerial view)
- Searles Lake, Trona, and the Pinnacles - slideshow
- Searles Valley Timeline
- The Searles Valley Historical Society
- Trona and Searles Valley at blackturtle.us
- TRONA, a film by Dave Fenster starring David Nordstrom set in Trona
- Abandonment in Trona photoset