Ryan Camp

Since 2013, the DVC has been the owner and steward of Ryan, an extraordinarily well-preserved look into life for miners who worked for the Pacific Coast Borax Company around the turn of the 20th century. Ryan was a luxurious mining camp by any standards of the day – with electricity, steam heat and refrigeration it also boasted a school, a hospital, post office, recreation hall/church (shipped down in sections from Rhyolite) and a general store.

Unlike other mining towns that were abandoned after short-lived mining operations were stopped and moved elsewhere, Ryan, built in 1914, was kept up for decades by Pacific Coast Borax Company (PCB). After richer, more economical borate deposits were discovered in the Kramer District (Boron, CA), the company decided to convert is holdings to tourism and with some remodeling, Ryan became the “Death Valley View Hotel” in 1927.

Ryan Rec Hall, once a church in Rhyolite, NV.
Ryan Rec Hall, once a church in Rhyolite, NV. This image was taken before it underwent a major stabilization and rehabilitation project.
Ryan bunkhouse with screen porch frameworks.
Ryan bunkhouse with screen porch frameworks.

Ryan Camp Today

More than 100 years later, many of the main structures of the camp on private land remain, and serve as the focal point of DVC’s restoration and preservation efforts. DVC’s mantra for Ryan is to “preserve what is left and restore where possible.”

Rio Tinto, which owned the land, buildings, and surrounding mines, donated Ryan Camp and its mineral rights to the DVC in 2013. Working with DVC, Rio Tinto also established the Ryan Endowment and Work Funds which will help the conservancy maintain and restore historic features on the site. The contribution is meant to ensure that proper resources are available for restoration and maintenance at the site far into the future, and is a testament to how much the company values its heritage in Death Valley.

While public tours are occasionally offered at Ryan, it is important to note that for the safety and preservation of the site it is otherwise closed to the general public.

Ryan Through The Lens

A look into the Death Valley spirit that embodies this special place.

The schoolhouse is the first building encountered upon entering Ryan. It dates to 1920-1922 and was either constructed on site, or moved from a different location. It catered to the children of management employees and was used up until the late 1920s. The bell cupola contains the original bell, which can be rung by visitors to Ryan.
The interior of the schoolhouse today appears much as it did in the 1920s. A chalkboard and cabinets line the north and east walls, and students were furnished with desks and chairs. Perhaps the most charming feature of the interior is the original wallpaper, which depicts children playing at the beach.
The carousal is one of three pieces of schoolyard play equipment, along with the swing and teeter-totter. It still turns (albeit noisily).
This is a north-facing view of Ryan, with the Ryan weathervane in the foreground. This weathervane was photographed by Ansel Adams in 1954, on one of his photography excursions to Death Valley.
This west-facing view shows the brick refuse incinerator and its associated track way. Beginning in the 1910s, trash was pushed in cars from in between the warehouse and kitchen buildings along a narrow gauge track to be burned in the incinerators.
The two bunkhouses pictured here offered living quarters for Ryan’s miners. Constructed in 1920, each contained forty-four double rooms, with two miners to each room. During the conversion of the camp to the Death Valley View Hotel in 1927-1928, the bunkhouses became “Guesthouses” and they were drastically remodeled. Guesthouse 1 (foreground) housed thirty-five guest rooms with bathrooms and showers on either end, and Guesthouse 2 held twenty-four guest rooms with attached private baths.
This is an example of a typical room in Bunkhouse 1, as it was remodeled in the late 1920s. Each room contained a dresser, bed, wardrobe, sink, and towel bar. Bathroom and shower facilities were located at either end of the building.
These three connected buildings are (from the left) the general store, the dining room/lobby, and kitchen facilities. During the mining era of Ryan (1914-1927), this was the main hub of activity in the camp. Miners shopped and mailed letters at the general store and ate in the dining room(s). Food was prepared in the kitchen and stored in a refrigerator cooled by ice from the ice plant. During the hotel era and up into the 1950s, guests checked into the Death Valley View Hotel lobby (center) and could eat in the dining room. This photo also shows the warehouse building (far right), which operated as a warehouse and staff quarters during both the mining and hotel eras.
This is the check-in area located in the lobby of the Death Valley View Hotel. Guests could choose from a range of accommodation types – Guesthouse 1 provided the most basic of rooms, while former management houses could be rented out as cottages.
This is a view of the Death Valley View Hotel’s dining room, operational until the 1950s. During the mining era, this room acted as a dining room for miners and the use remained the same throughout the hotel era. The skylights were added in the 1930s after hotel guests complained that the room was too dark.
This room, located in the Hotel lobby building, acted as a management dining room during the mining era. It became a lobby and reception area during the hotel era and beyond.
The 24-inch narrow “Baby” Gage mine railroad was repurposed into a tourist train with the conversion of the property to the Death Valley View Hotel in 1927. Visitors to Ryan could purchase tickets in the lobby for a 7-mile-roundtrip journey out to several of Ryan’s mines. The train traveled along the steep slopes of the Amargosa Range, over several wooden trestles and through two tunnels. The train operated until the early 1950s.
Much wildlife, such as the western desert tarantula pictured here, is found at Ryan. Tarantulas stay underground during the day, only to emerge at night for nocturnal hunting. Since temperatures can reach freezing at Ryan during the winter, the tarantulas remain underground all season. Every fall, males migrate to find mates, and then are eaten by the females.
The chuckwalla is one species of lizard that lives at Ryan. The Ryan chuckwallas can grow to be 18 inches long and have a vegetarian diet. When threatened, they crawl into rocky crevasses and inflate their abdomens to prevent removal.
Ryan, along with the larger Death Valley, hosts some of the most spectacular sunsets in the West. This is a view looking west with the Black Mountains in the foreground (Photo by Dahlia Smith).
The Powerhouse (also called the Lightplant) was constructed in 1924, and replaced a 1918 powerhouse at the same location. The building held three generators driven by Fairbanks Morse diesel engines, which were used as the primary power source at Ryan. In the 1950s, line power was installed to Ryan, bringing in outside power and rendering the building obsolete.
A 1919 Plymouth BL 6-ton gas powered locomotive was likely acquired by U.S. Borax for use at Ryan in 1923-1924 and became the primary mover of the 24-inch Baby Gage Railroad, which transported ore from the borate mines into Ryan Camp. The locomotive was manufactured by Plymouth Locomotive Works of Plymouth, Ohio and was furnished with a 50 HP BUDA BTU four-cylinder Pittsburgh Model gasoline engine. The Plymouth is unique in that it has a friction-drive transmission composed of two parts: a metal flywheel and a fiber-rimmed driven wheel, which took the place of a clutch and transmission. As the wheel spun, a lever brought the flywheel in contact with the driven wheel, transferring power via a chain to the axles. This allowed the locomotive to start under a heavy load without a sudden jerk and speed could be monitored without “changing gears.” Once Ryan became the Death Valley View Hotel in 1927, the locomotive pulled the tourist train.
Ore cars were used to transport ore from mines in the area to loading platforms in central Ryan where it could be shipped for processing. No borate processing occurred at Ryan, and so all ore was loaded from ore cars onto Death Valley R.R. railcars to be carried to Death Valley Junction for processing. The “haulage tunnel” in the background is a 1,590 foot underground tunnel completed in 1920, which allowed the Baby Gage rail line to bypass unstable ground and sharp curves as it traveled to mines located south of Ryan.
Ore was transported along the 24-inch gauge network of track from the mines south of Ryan to a loading platform in the center of the camp. Long strings of ore cars were pulled by small battery and gasoline locomotives along these trackways.
Two different kinds of borate ore were mined at Ryan – colemanite and ulexite. The most commonly found ore, colemanite, is pictured.
The Rec Hall/Church was originally the St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Rhyolite, NV. It was moved to this location in 1919 and two additions, a stage and a vestibule, were constructed. The Rec Hall served as a community center for the people of Ryan: plays were performed, silent movies shown, and a branch of the Inyo County Free Library loaned books to residents. Church services occasionally occurred in the building. This image was taken before the Rec Hall underwent a major stabilization and rehabilitation project, detailed elsewhere on this website.
This view from the Rec Hall’s north facing windows shows the Death Valley Railroad grade (at the right). The Death Valley RR was a 36-inch rail line that connected Ryan to Death Valley Junction, approximately 20 miles distant.
The interior of the Rec Hall appears much as it did in the 1920s. When the building was moved from Rhyolite in 1919, a stage was added. This photo is from before the major Rec Hall stabilization project commenced.
The Boiler House, constructed in 1920, held an oil-fired boiler that generated steam heat for the bunkhouses, shower house, hospital, and two of the management houses. The boiler house remained in use by the Death Valley View Hotel to heat the bunkhouses and hospital as late as 1946.
This is an example of one of the almost seventy-five rooms across the camp available as guest accommodations during Ryan’s use as the Death Valley View Hotel (1927-1930).
This room appears much as it would have during Ryan’s hotel-era in the late 1920s. It is located in the “Hospital” building, one of the oldest buildings at Ryan. The Hospital originally served as a residence for the mine superintendent in the 1910s. It got expanded for use as a hospital and staff quarters in the 1920s, and then got renovated to serve as hotel rooms for Death Valley View Hotel guests in 1927.
Many of the 1920s-era buildings at Ryan were outfitted with linoleum “rugs” laid over hardwood flooring or concrete. The rugs are linoleum sheets with printed designs and vary in size. Many of these rugs remain in place.
This is the interior of House 4, the storekeeper’s residence during the mining and hotel eras. It dates to 1925 and is unique in that it was not regularly occupied after 1930. As a result, it retains many of its original architectural elements and finishes.

Click or tap the image to learn more.

SUPPORT
RYAN

Your donation to either the Ryan Endowment Fund or the Ryan Projects Fund will help to preserve this amazing mining camp.

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RESTORATION & RESEARCH

Part of the work at the site includes preserving buildings and accommodations, and researching the rich history of the mining camp. DVC is working hard to make sure that the buildings in Ryan are structurally sound with loving attention to historic details. Below are just a few of our featured projects.

“New Old Stock” (NOS)2022-01-30T17:31:46-08:00
Ryan Camp California New Old Stock Electrical Covers Featured
“New Old Stock” (NOS)

“New Old Stock” (NOS)

Ryan Historic Patterned Carpets2018-09-24T05:39:50-07:00
Ryan Historic Patterned Carpet
Ryan Historic Patterned Carpets

Ryan Historic Patterned Carpets

Bunkhouse 1 Stair and Veranda Restoration2018-09-24T05:29:48-07:00
Ryan Bunkhouse Stairs Restoration
Bunkhouse 1 Stair and Veranda Restoration

Bunkhouse 1 Stair and Veranda Restoration

Reproduction Woven Electric Wire2018-09-24T05:06:58-07:00
Ryan Original Wire Samples
Reproduction Woven Electric Wire

Reproduction Woven Electric Wire

Point Cloud Map of Ryan Complete2018-09-24T03:30:56-07:00
Pound Cloud Map of Ryan, CA
Point Cloud Map of Ryan Complete

Point Cloud Map of Ryan Complete

Naval Springs Water System Tank2018-12-14T15:53:19-08:00
Naval Springs Water Tank
Naval Springs Water System Tank

Naval Springs Water System Tank

Screen Door and Service Porch Restoration2018-09-24T04:44:16-07:00
Screen Porch Restoration Complete
Screen Door and Service Porch Restoration

Screen Door and Service Porch Restoration

Wells Cargo UltraLav2018-12-14T17:06:48-08:00
Wells Cargo Ultralav
Wells Cargo UltraLav

Wells Cargo UltraLav

Reproduction Rain Gutters2018-09-24T04:17:56-07:00
Reproduction Rain Gutters for Ryan
Reproduction Rain Gutters

Reproduction Rain Gutters

Test of Reproduction Residential Railings2018-12-14T17:10:07-08:00
Test of Residential Ryan Railing Replacement
Test of Reproduction Residential Railings

Test of Reproduction Residential Railings

Sign Up For Ryan Tours

Occasional public tours are offered, participants are selected by random chance drawing.

Learn More & Sign Up

Ryan Timeline

1914 – 1920

Ryan got its start in 1914 when the Pacific Coast Borax Co. moved its base of borax mining operations from Old Ryan at the Lila C mine to New Ryan (the Ryan we know today) in 1914, with the completion of the Death Valley Railroad.

1921 – 1926

After the slowdown of Ryan’s mining activity during World War I, Pacific Coast Borax embarked on an ambitious program of modernizing its facilities and consolidating its workforce; it envisioned Ryan as the center of its mining operations for years to come.

1927 – 1930

In 1927, Pacific Coast Borax again began moving its base of borax mining operations, this time away from Ryan and Death Valley – richer, more accessible deposits awaited at Boron, CA. Loathe to abandon its many Death Valley assets, the mining corporation converted Ryan into a hotel which they named the Death Valley View Hotel. The hotel served as a base for tourist attractions like trips on the existing 24-inch “baby” gauge railroad.

1931 – 1962

Ryan saw continued use as a seasonal hotel, as overflow housing when the Furnace Creek Inn was full, and as a busy daytime base for Baby Gage trips and mine tours. The recreational uses continued for nearly 30 years, though the intensity of use decreased, hotel operations shut down for the duration of World War II, and the Baby Gage tours ended in 1949. In 1954, groups of San Jose State University students began yearly visits to Ryan as part of a natural history program. Also during the 1950s, Ryan and its immediate surroundings saw occasional use as a filming location; six Death Valley Days episodes were filmed there in the 1950s, and an episode of The Twilight Zone was filmed there in 1959. In that same year, the iconic film Spartacus used several Ryan locations to film its opening sequences.

1962 – 2010

Pacific Coast Borax merged with another company to become U.S. Borax in 1956, and had essentially mothballed Ryan by 1962. Ryan was overseen by a series of part-time and full-time caretakers. Many of Ryan’s buildings, including shops, garages, and houses, were moved or demolished.

2011 – Today

In 2011, the Death Valley Conservancy began joint management of Ryan, and in 2013, it received the property as a donation from Rio Tinto. Ryan is now managed by professional staff who have implemented a more comprehensive maintenance, preservation, rehabilitation, and restoration program. New uses for the property, including adaptive reuse of some buildings and reconstruction of some missing buildings, are currently in progress.

THE CONSERVANCY AT WORK

Exact Replica Borax Wagons

20 Mule Team Reproduction Borax Wagons Death Valley

Scotty's Castle Virtual Tour

Scotty's Castle Virtual Tour

Devils Hole Pupfish Research

Devils Hole Pup Fish

Thank you generous donors for making these exciting projects possible.