Building a Better Baker
A Brief History Baker, California
In the late 1880's a man by the name of Francis Marion Smith purchased several mines in the Death Valley area, among them were mines which produced Borax, a highly sought after product at the time. His predecessor was moving Borax using the legendary 20 mule teams. Smith continued this practice for a while but soon decided a railroad was needed to move the various products of his mines to market and a railroad could also haul freight in and out of a number of other mines along the route.
In 1904 Smith, soon to become know as "Borax" Smith, formed the Pacific Coast Borax Company and began to seek investors who would finance the costs of the railroad construction. Originally Smith sought to construct a railroad running from Tonopah, Nevada to the San Diego area (tidewater). He named his proposed railroad the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad a name which was soon shortened to the T&T. In fact the rail line would never reach either planned terminal.
By the time Smith began construction of the railroad he was able to connect with an existing rail line at Ludlow, California and he began constructing his railroad north from that point toward Beatty Nevada in 1906. The rails were constructed through the Broadwell Lake area, onward to Soda Lake, passing through what is now Baker, across Silver Lake and continuing on toward Beatty.