Today, little remains of Borosolvay, just a few old foundations.  Both the town and the chemical
plant have vanished after a brief life producing potash during and shortly after World War I.  One
of the partners, Pacific Coast Borax, stipulated that the Borosolvay Plant was not to produce borax
that would compete with their own borax production.  Fortunately, the museum retains a good
record of the plant and town.  The most prized artifact is the horns a Big Horn sheep; these once
adorned the wall of "Billy Goat Hall".  There are also many pictures of Borosolvay.

Unlike Borosolvay, Westend lives on.  The chemical plant continues to produce borax and sodium
sulfate and people still live in the houses at Westend.  Because Westend has been around for
78 years, the museum has many photographs, documents and artifacts concerning Westend.

The Argus Plant is the newest plant in Searles Valley.  It is also the largest plant that has ever
extracted minerals from Searles Dry Lake.  Today, it produces over 1 million tons per year of soda
ash.

	The bulletin board has a good collection of Borosolvay pictures.  Many of the houses that were originally at Borosolvay were moved to Trona after the Borosolvay Plant shut down.
	There is a good display of the people that brought the Westend Plant into existance and fostered its growth.  Among the artifacts is the welded steel sign saying, "WESTEND CAL"
	Years ago an optician came to Westend periodically to give eye exams to the employees there.  This was the chair he used.

 Return to Museum Site Map

Searles Valley Historical Society
P. O. Box 966
Trona, CA   93592-0966
Phone (760) 372-5356

e-mail 

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