The Oasis at Death Valley, formerly called Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch Resort, is a luxury resort in Furnace Creek, on private land within the boundaries of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Death Valley National Park Death Valley National Park is an American national park that straddles the California–Nevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada. The park boundaries include Death Valley, the northern section of Panamint Valley, the southern section of Eureka ...

. It is owned and operated by

Xanterra Parks and Resorts Xanterra Travel Collection (formerly Xanterra Parks & Resorts, Amfac Resorts and Amfac Parks & Resorts) is a privately owned American park and resort management company based in Greenwood Village, Colorado, controlled by entertainment magnate P ...

. The Inn at Death Valley is a member of

Historic Hotels of America Historic Hotels of America is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that was founded in 1989 with 32 charter members; the program accepts nominations and identifies hotels that have maintained their authenticity, sense of pla ...

, the official program of the

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...

The Inn at Death Valley

The Inn at Death Valley, formerly called ''The Furnace Creek Inn'', was originally constructed by the

Pacific Coast Borax Company The Pacific Coast Borax Company (PCB) was a United States mining company founded in 1890 by the American borax magnate Francis Smith, the "Borax King". History The roots of the Pacific Coast Borax Company lie in Mineral County, Nevada, east of ...

and opened on February 1, 1927, with twelve rooms.

Richard C. Baker Richard C. Baker (1858 – 1937) was the British business partner of Francis Marion "Borax" Smith and eventually became president of the Pacific Coast Borax Company and the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad. In 1899, "Borax" Smith, founder of Pacific ...

– then president of Pacific Coast Borax – sought to open

Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the Highest temperature recorded on Earth, hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the ...

to tourism in an effort to increase revenue on the

Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad The Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad was a former class II railroad that served eastern California and southwestern Nevada. The railroad was built mainly to haul borax from Francis Marion Smith's Pacific Coast Borax Company mines located just eas ...

originally built by

Francis Marion Smith Francis Marion Smith (February 2, 1846 – August 27, 1931) (once known nationally and internationally as "Borax Smith" and "The Borax King" ) was an American miner, business magnate and civic builder in the Mojave Desert, the San Francisc ...

for shipping

borax Borax is a salt (ionic compound), a hydrated borate of sodium, with chemical formula often written . It is a colorless crystalline solid, that dissolves in water to make a basic solution. It is commonly available in powder or granular form, ...

, but in need of new sources of revenue. Twenty additional rooms, as well as a swimming pool and tennis courts were added in the 1930s. The

Fred Harvey Company The Fred Harvey Company was the owner of the Harvey House chain of restaurants, hotels and other hospitality industry businesses alongside railroads in the Western United States. It was founded in 1876 by Fred Harvey to cater to the growing n ...

operated the facilities for decades. The Inn now has 66 rooms, located on the hillside, and is open from October through May.

The Ranch at Death Valley

The Ranch at Death Valley, formerly called ''The Furnace Creek Ranch'' (), is a separate lodging facility from the Inn. It is on the valley floor next to the Park's Visitor Center. The ranch is known for being the location of the

highest temperature recorded on Earth The highest temperature recorded on Earth has been measured in three major ways: air, ground, and via satellite observation. Air measurements are used as the standard measurement due to persistent issues with unreliable ground and satellite re ...

at 56.7 °C (134.1 °F) on July 10, 1913. THE BORAX MUSEUM, DEATH VALLEY

Borax Museum

The Borax Museum is located at The Ranch at Death Valley. The museum features

mining tools and equipment of the

, models of

twenty-mule team Twenty-mule teams were teams of eighteen mules and two horses attached to large wagons that transported borax out of Death Valley from 1883 to 1889. They traveled from mining, mines across the Mojave Desert to the nearest Rail transport, railroad ...

wagon trains, pioneer artifacts and mineral specimens.

References

External links

The Oasis at Death Valley

"The Desert Queen: Death Valley National Park's Furnace Creek Inn"
NationalParksTraveler.com {{coord, 36, 27, 02, N, 116, 51, 08, W, scale:10000, display=title Buildings and structures in Death Valley National Park Companies based in Inyo County, California Resorts in California Fred Harvey Company Museums in Inyo County, California Mining museums in California Hotels established in 1927 Hotel buildings completed in 1927 1927 establishments in California Historic Hotels of America