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Identification:
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Preferred Structure Name:
| Harmony Borax Works
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Structure Number:
| HS-002
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Other Structure Name(s):
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Other Structure Name(s)
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| No records. |
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Park:
| Death Valley National Park
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Historic District:
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Historic District
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| No records. |
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Structure State:
| California
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Structure County:
| Inyo
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Region:
| Pacific West
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Cluster:
| Pacific Great Basin
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Administrative Unit:
| Death Valley National Park
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LCS ID:
| 000252
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Historical Significance:
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National Register Status:
| Entered - Documented
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National Register Date:
| 12/31/1974
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National Historic Landmark?:
| No
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Significance Level:
| Local
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Short Significance Description:
| After discovery of borax deposits here in 1881, William T. Coleman developed the Harmony Borax Works which opened the way for large-scale borax mining in other Death Valley locations. Famous 20-mule team originated here.
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Construction Period:
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Construction Period:
| Historic
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Chronology:
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Physical Event
| Begin Year
| Begin Year AD/BC
| End Year
| End Year AD/BC
| Designer
| Designer Occupation
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1.
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Built
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1882
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AD
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2.
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Stabilized
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1937
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AD
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CCC
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Other
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3.
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Stabilized
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1975
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AD
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NPS/Chambers
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Other
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4.
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Stabilized
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2000
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AD
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NPS
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Other
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Function and Use:
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Primary Historic Function:
| Extractive Facility (Mining)
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Primary Current Use:
| Exhibit
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Structure Contains Museum Collections?:
| No
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Other Functions or Uses:
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Other Function(s) or Use(s)
| Historic or Current
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1.
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Ruin
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2.
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Interpretative Landscape
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Physical Description:
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Structure Type:
| Ruin
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Material(s):
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Structural Component(s)
| Material(s)
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1.
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Superstructure
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Stone
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2.
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Superstructure
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Adobe
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Short Physical Description:
| Refinery area consists of masonry retaining walls, a large wooden platform, two iron tanks, and iron boiler and one ruined adobe building; former company town area consists of ruins of two adobe buildings. Modern interpretive path, fences, signs.
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Long Physical Description:
| At present the Harmony Borax Works consists of a four-level terraced ruin situated against a hillside. There are remains of adobe and stone buildings, machinery, tanks, piping, and waste tailings. In addition to the works proper, a nearby town-site contains the remnants of buildings and trash dumps relating to the company settlement. The entire complex is referred to as "Harmony Borax Works," or simply "Harmony". Specifically, there are 5 major extant structures and 4 associated surface and subsurface features at Harmony Borax Works.
Extant Structures:
Adobe A - Rectilinear adobe and sandstone structure with only walls remaining.
Adobe B - Rectilinear adobe and sandstone structure with only walls reamining. Adobe B is located east of the main Borax processing facility.
Adobe Structure - Rectilinear adobe and sandstone structure with only walls remaining. The Adobe Structure is locarted within the main Borax processing facility.
Boiler Structure - Rectilinear sandstone and adobe enclosing structure with horizontal structural iron/steel rods. The Boiler Structure is located within the main Borax processing facility and is adjacent to the Adobe Structure.
Dissolving Tanks - Rectangular sheet iron, riveted tanks approximately 25 feet by 6 feet by 3 feet deep. The Dissolving Tanks are located within the main Borax processing facility adjacent to the Boiler Structure.
Surface and Subsurface Features:
Blacksmith Shop - Mounded area covered by surface scatter of small iron/steel portable artifacts, with wooden subsurface post ends. the Blacksmith Shop area is located to the west and just across the orad from Adobe B.
Privy - Subsurface feature characterized by small depression on the surface with some wooden lining remnants or other structural components. the Privy is located west from the Blacksmith Shop and east of the Tailings Ponds.
Subterranean Adobe - Subsurface feature appearing as a mounded earth area immediately adjacent to Harmony Borax Works. The Subterranean Adobe is located to the southeast of the Boiler Terrace.
Tailings Ponds - Rectilinear surface feature composed of low earthen walls. The Tailings Ponds are located northeast of the main Borax processing facility.
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