Pacific Borax Company store

Abstract

Photograph showing the Pacific Borax Company mercantile store and other buildings in Columbus, Nevada. Francis M. Smith and his brother Julian established the first successful borax mining operation in Nevada at Teel's Marsh in about 1872 and are credited with starting Nevada's borax rush. The Pacific Borax Company was one of the companies with borax interests in Nevada and California at the time. William T. Coleman, a California businessman, acquired an interest in the Company, which was in financial trouble by the late 1870s. Smith purchased the Pacific Borax Company in 1880 and built a refinery at Fish Lake, Nevada, becoming one of the foremost players in Nevada marsh borax production. When Coleman was forced to liquidate his assets, Smith acquired Colman's borax refinery in West Alameda, California as well as his interests in the Meridian Borax and Harmony Borax companies. Smith consolidated the companies to create the Pacific Coast Borax Company in 1890.