boraxalumni.com

Boron Area History Revealed in New Book
Local author releases new book featuring stunning collection of vintage photographs

New from Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series is
Around Boron. In over 200 vintage photographs, local author
Barbara J. Pratt along with the Twenty Mule Team Museum share
the history of Boron’s past.



In the late 1920s, this high desert area with little water and unproductive soil held no attraction for most people, but the small community of Amargo provided a grocery store, gas station and of course a saloon for the convenience of tenacious gold and borax prospectors. In 1938, after the large deposit of borax was discovered and mining had begun, a town hall meeting was called
and LeRoy Osborne, supervisor of Pacific Coast Borax Company, suggested changing the name from Amargo to Boron.

Boron is the fifth element on the periodic table and combines with other nonmetallic minerals to form a family of related minerals called borates; after this was explained to those gathered at the
town hall meeting, Boron was unanimously chosen as its new name and the community was forever linked to the borax mining industry.

A portion of the profits from the book will go toward the upkeep and development of the Twenty Mule Team Museum. Available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or www.arcadiapublishing.com.

Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States. Our mission is to make histor accessible and meaningful through the publication of books on the heritage of America’s people and places. Have we done a book on your town? Visit www.arcadiapublishing.com."

Borax Alumni Coffee Breaks are held about once every 10 weeks. They start at 9:00 a.m. and end when the last person walks out the door. They are held at:

The Corner Bakery
24290 Valencia Blvd
Valencia, California
(McBean & Valencia Blvd.)

The next one will be held July 13, September 14, November 2. Y'all come!

There is a network of Alumni who are receiving e-mails containing news that is related to the business of Rio Tinto and Rio Tinto Minerals. This includes some reports on Rio Tinto stock or press releases that have been released by the company to keep the general public informed. I receive automatic notices from Google and before I pass them on I do my best to determine if there is any value in sharing the information with the Limited Network. This network is not exclusive and if you are not receiving the "Limited" notices and would like to be put on the distribution list, let Betty Peters know at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

"Borax changed the history of Death Valley.

It brought in an industry; it produced the famous Twenty Mule Teams; and it focused the world’s attention on a great new mineral source, which, unlike the ephemeral gold and silver discoveries, was real. There were no “lost” borax mines.

The first form of borax to be found in the Valley was white crystalline ulexite called “cottonball”, which encrusted the ancient lake bed, Lake Manly. Cottonball of this kind had been found earlier at Columbus Marsh and at Teel’s Marsh, in western Nevada.

The first man to try to market Death Valley cottonball was an unsuccessful gold prospector named Daunet. In 1875 he could interest no one in his discovery. Fate made him six years too early." (Link)