death valley national park Amargosa Opera House

Please view large. Southwestern Architecture of the 'Old West" fascinates

me. The Pacific Coast Borax Company built the opera house in 1924 as

the Social Center in Death Valley Junction, California. Yes, this is the

Twenty Mule Team Borax company that you remember on your cans of

cleanser. The building was abandoned in 1948 with the decline of Death

Valley Junction. In 1967, Marta Becket bought the structure and

transformed it into the Amargosa Opera House which opened again in

1968. The three images of the opera house create today's accurate look at

the building as a "motel resort." Unfortunately, it appears to be closed

again. I hope you enjoy these images and will take your time to comment.

Thanks. Larry

Dear Larry,

This is a great picture! For me, some of the appeal is the dichotomy of the scene and it's "title." When we think "opera house" we think grand and opulent and what we get here is plain and spartan. I guess the opulence comes in that spectacular blue! Nicely done!

Tim

Tim,   Thanks for your visit and comment.  I certainly agree with you.  There is nothing even close to opulent in Death Valley Junction.  The town is lucky to exist.  I wonder how long it has been closed.  The town is on the east end of Death Valley National Park and just inside the California border from Nevada.  It's a pretty desolate place.  To think of it once being a popular resort is kind of amazing.   Thanks again for your comment.  Larry

Is that the actual shape of the top of edge of the building as it slopes to each side, or just a bit of distortion?

It is quite a contrast to the opera houses and theatres of the UK. This could just have easilly been a county jail or a wharehouse. Only the lettering on the building depicts its true purpose. Maybe the plain designs are mean't to be multi functional.

A great insight to another time and place so far removed from my own environment.  Very well captured Larry!

Best Regards

Alf

Hi Alf,  

I appreciate your visit.  The slope in the building is there, not distortion.  If it were, it would be good distortion in this case.  Yes, I can see this as a multifunctional building, including a jail.  The full building is wider than shown here.  Buildings are quite simple and functional in the desert southwest.  There is more of an ornamental look on the facade of the building in the image with the fire hose in front.  I added these other images to show the entire site.  Since the building was a social hall when it was originally built, it was probably more like a bar than a fancy opera house.  In its boom years, 1928-48 it obviously provided a social respite for the workers in the Pacific Borax Company, who mined borax from Death Valley and shipped it a couple of hundred miles by either mule train ( two wood cars, followed by a water tanker) or later by steam train.  It was tough work in a harsh hot environment.      The average temperature in the summer at Death Valley is 115 F.  When the building was restored and revamped into the "opera house" in 1967, it included a large motel and was supposedly set up more as a resort.  The irony is that as most people think of traveling, this place is in the absolute middle of nowhere.  It's between Death Valley and Las Vegas, Nevada.  Larry

I actually never thought of where Borax came from. What a job that must have been for those poor workers. With this story, I understand now the size, and why it was that big. I imagine it would be difficult to make a living in a resort that not many would visit in large numbers. What a shame.

Gail,  Hi.  Thanks for your visits to these opera house photos.  In Spanish, amargosa means bitter and has also been associated with sweetbread made of bitter almonds.  The land here is quite bitter and yet grand in its dryness, desolation and vastness.  As always, Gail, wishing you well.  Larry

Larry,

I passed at this junction on my way to Death Valley last year and what caught my eye was this place too. An opera house in this remote area? This is a nicely document photograph and the story written to it gives a good emphasis of how important this place was. A nice composition with the blue door that catches my eye. Regards!

Lester

Lester,  Thanks.