Pacific Coast Borax Company

[1] The roots of the Pacific Coast Borax Company lie in Mineral County, Nevada, east of Mono Lake, where Smith, while contracting to provide firewood to a small borax operation at nearby Columbus Marsh, spotted Teels Marsh while looking westward from the upper slopes of Miller Mountain where the only nearby trees were growing.

[2] Eventually, to satisfy his curiosity, Smith and two assistants visited Teels Marsh and collected samples, that proved to assay higher than any known sources for borate.

[5] One of the earliest reinforced concrete buildings constructed in the United States was the Pacific Coast Borax Company's refinery in Alameda, California, designed by Ernest L. Ransome and built in 1893.

[9] The company established and aggressively developed and marketed the 20 Mule Team Borax trademark in order to promote the sale of its product.

[11] In Death Valley Junction, California in 1923–24, the Pacific Coast Borax Company constructed, at a cost of $300,000 ($5,504,272 in 2024 dollars [12]), a U-shaped Civic Center complex, around three sides of a town square, designed by architect Alexander Hamilton McCulloh.

At the northeast corner of the complex, was Corkill Hall, used for dances, church services, movies, funerals and town meetings, and became the Amargosa Opera House, in 1967.

As a wholly owned subsidiary, the company now is called Rio Tinto Borax and continues to supply nearly half the world's borates.