The Pacific Coast Borax Company was a borax mining company founded by Francis Marion "Borax" Smith.
Smith started business in 1873 with the help of his older brother, Julius, and two brothers by the name of Storey, as Smith and Storey Brothers Borax Co. Later, the Smiths acquired the Storey brothers' interest and the company name was changed to Smith Brothers Borax Co. and later to the Teels Marsh Borax Co. 1 The name started in 1890. The Pacific Coast Borax Company merged with United States Potash Corporation to form U.S. Borax in 1956.
In 1913, the headquarters was in the Realty Syndicate Building at 1440 Broadway. The mines were near Death Valley and in Nevada. There were processing plants in Alameda and in Bayonne, New Jersey.
The Pacific Coast Borax Co. plant in Alameda was constructed in 1889 and was notable for being among the earliest reinforced concrete structures in the US. The architect and engineer was Frank L. Ransome. The plant was situated on what was then the western shoreline of the Alameda Peninsula, on the west side of Bryant Street between Brush and Spruce Streets.
from UC Berkeley Bancroft Library 2
1909–1914 Directors
- F. M. "Borax" Smith - president and treasurer
- Dennis Searles - vice-president
- William Lovering Locke - secretary of the board
- George C. Ellis
- Roland L. Oliver
Links and References
- Pacific Coast Borax Company on Legends of America
- Views of the Borax Industry, ca. 1898-ca. 1915 at UC Berkeley Bancroft Library
