Ryan (formerly known as Devar ("Devair" as a misprint)) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Inyo County, California Inyo County () is a county in the eastern central part of the U.S. state of California, located between the Sierra Nevada and the state of Nevada. In the 2020 census, the population was 19,016. The county seat is Independence. Inyo County is ...

. A former

mining community A mining community, also known as a mining town or a mining camp, is a community that houses miners. Mining communities are usually created around a mine or a quarry. Historic mining communities Australia * Ballarat, Victoria * Bendig ...

and

company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...

, Ryan is situated at an elevation of in the

Amargosa Range The Amargosa Range is a mountain range in Inyo County, California and Nye County, Nevada. The range runs along most of the eastern side of California's Death Valley, separating it from Nevada's Amargosa Desert. The U-shaped Amargosa River flows ...

, northeast of Dante's View and southeast of Furnace Creek.

Name

The mining community of Lila C was constructed in 1907 near the Lila C mine, which produced

colemanite Colemanite (Ca2B6O11·5H2O) or (CaB3O4(OH)3·H2O) is a borate mineral found in evaporite deposits of alkaline lacustrine environments. Colemanite is a secondary mineral that forms by alteration of borax and ulexite. It was first described in 18 ...

for 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 ...

. The town was named by its owner

William Tell Coleman William Tell Coleman (1824–1893) was an American pioneer in the settlement of California. Early life William Tell Coleman was born in Cynthiana in Harrison County, Kentucky on February 29, 1824. He was educated at St. Louis University in Mis ...

, after his daughter, Lila C. Coleman. Soon after its completion, the community of Lila C became known as "Ryan", in honor of John Ryan (18491918), who was General Manager of the

and a trusted employee of

"Borax" 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 Francisco ...

until his death in 1918."The Great Desert Railroad Race" Documentary written and produced by Ted Faye
/ref> The Ryan post office was opened at Lila C in 1907. When a new mining camp was first constructed to the northwest in 1914, the new settlement was named Devar (misspelled as Devair on a 1930 topographic map) an acronym for DEath VAlley Railroad. The name was later changed to Ryan in honor of John Ryan and the old camp at the Lila C. The new camp is currently known as Ryan, CA or Ryan Camp.

History

Ryan was the western terminus for the

Death Valley Railroad The Death Valley Railroad (DVRR) was a narrow gauge railroad that operated in California's Death Valley to carry borax with the route running from Ryan, California and the mines at Lila C, both located just east of Death Valley National Park, ...

, the eastern terminus of which was located at

Death Valley Junction Death Valley Junction, more commonly known as Amargosa (Spanish for "Bitter"), is a tiny Mojave Desert unincorporated community in Inyo County, California, at the intersection of SR 190 and SR 127, in the Amargosa Valley and just east of Deat ...

near the

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 ...

works of the Pacific Coast Borax Company in the early 20th century. According to the Death Valley Conservancy, "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." After borax production had stopped in 1928, in an effort to increase revenues 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 ...

which had carried the borax ore, Pacific Coast Borax converted the miners' lodgings into tourist accommodations and gave tourists visiting

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 hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the point of lowest elevation in Nort ...

trips on the narrow gauge rail line into the mine. The Death Valley View Hotel operated full-time from 1927 until 1930, the year the Death Valley Railroad ceased to function. After 1930 the hotel was used as overflow accommodations for the Furnace Creek Ranch and Inn through the 1950s. Th
Death Valley Conservancy
is the current caretaker of Ryan Camp. The donation of Ryan Camp to the Death Valley Conservancy was completed by Rio Tinto Borax Corporation on May 6, 2013. The Death Valley Conservancy is a nonprofit charity led by the former Rio Tinto Chief Executive of Energy & Minerals, Preston Chiaro, as the DVC's President.

Climate

This area has a large amount of sunshine year round due to its stable descending air and high pressure. According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

system, Ryan has a

desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in deser ...

, abbreviated "Bwh" on climate maps.Climate Summary for Ryan, California
/ref>

References

{{authority control Ghost towns in Inyo County, California Mining communities in California Populated places in the Mojave Desert Unincorporated communities in Inyo County, California History of the Mojave Desert region History of Inyo County, California Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad Unincorporated communities in California Company towns in California