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, a town in San Bernardino County, California, corresponds to the census-designated place (CDP) known as
. Trona is at the western edge of Searles Lake, a dry lakebed at the bottom of in Searles Valley, southwest of Death Valley. The town takes its name from the mineral trona, abundant in the lake.
It is about 170 miles northeast of Los Angeles, on State Route 178. As of the 2000 census the CDP's population was 1,885. The ZIP code is 93562.
Trona is known for its isolation and desolation. as well as the nearby Trona Pinnacles. The local school plays on a dirt football field because the searing heat and highly saline soil kills grass.
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. Employees were paid in company scrip instead of cash. The mining company also built a library, a scrip-accepting for-profit grocery store, a school, basic housing, and minimal recreation facilities. The Trona Railway was built in 1913-14 to provide the town with a rail connection to the Southern Pacific (now the Union Pacific) line at Searles. The railway still operates today.
Economic booms and busts followed. Its most notable boom occurred during World War I, when Trona was the only reliable American source of potash, an important element used in the production of gunpowder.
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 playa surface, and a lime quarry. Searles Valley Minerals is the largest employer in Trona, and many employees live in Ridgecrest, California, commuting daily to Trona.
Trona also serves as the headquarters and base of operations for the Trona Railway, a shortline railroad.
Trona High School has 162 students and competes as the Tornadoes. It has the only dirt American football field in the United States outside of Alaska.
A number of Hollywood films have been shot in the surrounding desert (particularly around the Trona Pinnacles), including
. In the 2000s, the town itself served as the setting for two films,