Trona Off The Beaten Path

Although, this is not a offical state historical marker, it is a marker put here for those to learn of the local history. So make sure to take some time and read such wonderful treasures of information. This one tells the history of the Borax Wagon routes used by the Searles' Brothers who drove the wagons.

This is located just at the entrance of the Trona Pinnacles Park off of Highway 178.

It reads:
John & Dennis Seales' Wagon Route
1873-1895
This monument commemorates two wagon routes used by the Searles Brothers to haul Borax from their plant on Borax Lake(now Searles Lake) to the railhead at Mojave. The souther route traveled west of the Trona Pinnacles to Searles freight STation at Garden City, this is the present route of the Trona Railway which connects with the Union Pacific at Seales Station, Garden City was a virtual Oasis, providing food and shelter for the teamster and a barn to accommodating 100 mules. The Western route went through Salt Wells Canyon (Poison Canyon) to a dry station one mile from the head of the canyon and on to Garden City where both routes joined, it then continued through Garlock and connected with the road to Mojave.

Plaque placed by Billy Holcomb Chapter the Ancient and Honorable Oder of the E Clampus Vitus in cooperation with the Searles Valley Historical Society May 7, 2000

Billy Holcomb Plaques No. 97

I came to Trona from classy Orange County,Ca where I had lived since 1946. Had sold my Orange County house/property,needed to find a new abode but did'nt want to spend lots of money. So I basically websearched hell and Trona popped up on my screen. Trona has the lowest property values of any town in the entire state of California. I bought a house here in the classy section of Trona,Pioneer Point. This is Trona's version of Simi Valley. Fun in Trona means laying outdoors on aluminum lawn chairs drinking cheap beer counting the UFOs from nearby Area 51 flying past. Temp here during August hits 130F and -8F in winter. Hurricane force winds blow boulders off the surrounding mountains and massive sandstorms suffocate everything. Trona has been a tiny community totally isolated from the outside world since the 1800s. Should scientists do a genetic analysis of the Tronians it would be front page news worldwide.