Yes, technically Trona is not a ghost town. It had almost 2000 population in 2015. But for every inhabited house in the town there are 1 or 2 abandoned. This town looks like it is far away from it’s best days.
If you wondered how the town got such a romantic name - town takes its name from the mineral trona - trisodium hydrogendicarbonate dihydrate
Trona is at the western edge of Searles Lake, a dry lake bed in Searles Valley, southwest of Death Valley. Starting in the late 1800s mining industry set up around Searles Dry Lake to mine borax. Trona was officially established in 1913, as a self-contained company town, wholly operated by its resident mining company to house employees. Today, Searles Valley Minerals Inc.’s soda ash processing plant remains the largest firm in town. Other operations nearby include evaporative salt extraction from the dry lake bed’s surface, and a lime quarry.
Borax - the main thing that Trona produces also makes the surroundings rather surreal. Because of the high salinity - there is no grass anywhere. Only few trees can survive on this soil.
