Trona in San Bernardino County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
Austin Hall
Photographed By Denise Boose, December 26, 2010
1. Austin Hall Marker
Inscription.
Austin Hall, the much loved focal point of the Trona community, once stood on this site. Built in 1912 the unique structure, with its one-foot thick concrete walls, boasted 45 arches on three sides, the building provided a cooling shelter from the blazing heat with its patio center and oleander trees. Early employees were housed and fed in its spacious rooms and eventually all the town’s businesses were housed here. The patio became an open-air theatre with adjoining pool hall, a barber shop, post office, library, grocery and department store and a telegraph office with a switchboard for the single phone line into Trona. , The building was named for Stafford W. Austin, the court appointed receiver for the troubled California Trona Company. Austin guided the company through its evolution from the John Searles owned San Bernardino Borax Mining Company to the eventually successful American Potash and Chemical Corporation. The building was removed in 1965.
Austin Hall, the much loved focal point of the Trona community, once stood on this site. Built in 1912 the unique structure, with its one-foot thick concrete walls, boasted 45 arches on three sides, the building provided a cooling shelter from the blazing heat with its patio center and oleander trees. Early employees were housed and fed in its spacious rooms and eventually all the town’s businesses were housed here. The patio became an open-air theatre with adjoining pool hall, a barber shop, post office, library, grocery and department store and a telegraph office with a switchboard for the single phone line into Trona.
The building was named for Stafford W. Austin, the court appointed receiver for the troubled California Trona Company. Austin guided the company through its evolution from the John Searles owned San Bernardino Borax Mining Company to the eventually successful American Potash and Chemical Corporation. The building was removed in 1965.
Erected 2002 by Searles Valley Historical Society.
22.564′ W. Marker is in Trona, California, in San Bernardino County. Marker is at the intersection of Main Street and Trona Road on Main Street. The Austin Hall plaque is across the street and north of the Guest House Museum. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Trona CA 93562, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Also see . . . Trona on the Web. (Submitted on October 13, 2020, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)
Photographed By Denise Boose, December 26, 2010
2. Austin Hall Marker
Photographed By Denise Boose, December 26, 2010
3. Original Location of Austin Hall
Photographed By Craig Baker, October 26, 2020
4. Austin Hall Marker
Photographed By Craig Baker, April 4, 2022
5. Old Fox Theater
Located across the street.
Photographed By Craig Baker, April 4, 2022
6. Old Recreation Center
On Argus Ave at California Street.
Credits. This page was last revised on April 14, 2022. It was originally submitted on January 22, 2012, by Denise Boose of Tehachapi, California. This page has been viewed 874 times since then and 20 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on January 22, 2012, by Denise Boose of Tehachapi, California. 4. submitted on October 29, 2020, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. 5, 6. submitted on April 14, 2022, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.