Baron Alfred de Ropp was a key player in the creation of Trona.

Baron Alfred de Ropp, a Russian nobleman, graduated from the Royal Mining Academy in Germany in 1882. He came to the USA to work for the Peblo Smelting and Refinery Company in Colorado where he developed a reputation for solving difficult problems.

In 1908 Baron Alfred de Ropp  became manager of the Foreign Mines Development Company a subsidiary of the Consolidated Gold Fields of South Africa. A biography of  the Baron in the book, Searles Lake Borax 1862-1962, credits him with supervising the creation of the town of Trona, the Trona Mercantile Company, the Hornsey plant and the American Trona Company plant. In addition he had to deal with investors and fight multiple legal challenges.

He was the president of the California Trona Company and then the American Trona Company. When he retired in 1920 both of his sons were living in Trona and working for the American Trona Company as Engineers. After his retirement the American Trona Company suffered from lack of strong leadership and reorganized to become American Potash & Chemical Corporation.

The American Potash & Chemical Corporation was incorporated with $1 million in capital in 1926. On the same date, it acquired American Trona Corporation.

The Baron’s son, Alfred, left Trona to work in AP&CC’s New York sales office. His son, Harold, went to work for DuPont. His daughter Vera married General Eric Fisher Wood who was on Eisenhower’s staff during WWII. The Baron’s grandson, Eric Wood Jr. , died during the Battle of the Bulge and was posthumously decorated.

The Baron moved to Coronado when he retired and died there in 1941. His wife died 11 years later.

The family story sounds like it could be made into a good movie. I have never heard of him until this week. He made the mistake of not naming a building after himself. If Austin Hall had been named de Ropp Hall we would all know who he was.

Remember when the Trona High School basketball games were held downtown across from Austin Hall? Well, I suppose that most of you won’t. I don’t remember this particular game. I don’t remember much of what happened when I was two.

I do remember seeing at least one game being played there. I was probably a free spectator looking through the trees and fence. I think the girls who sold tickets would also let us in for free during the fourth quarter. I cannot imagine my mother giving me money to pay for a ticket to watch basketball.  The courts were concrete rather than wood. They were also used as tennis courts and were used for the weekly roller skating and movie event before courts were torn down and replaced by the one on Argus Ave. Later skating was moved to the tennis courts at the high school. Skating was also held at the clubhouse on the ballroom floor for a few years. Metal skates were not allowed there, only wooden wheels. My sister was the only one in the family that right kind of shoes for the clubhouse.  I never did learn to skate.

The one event that sticks out in my mind the most though is a fundraiser auction that one of the organizations conducted after one of the games. My mother kind of set me up. She decided I should do the bidding on one of the items so see sent me up front  but since I had no idea what I was doing I kept running back to ask her what I should bid next. I lost the bid during one of the times that I was running back for instructions. Then I got the blame for not winning the item. Mom, what were thinking? I was probably only six or seven at the time.

Oh, yea and there was the dog fight that broke out during the movie when skating was held at the High School. The Wilson’s dog had a hold on my arm with its teeth and then someone turned on the lights. I could see the surprize in the dogs eyes when he realized that all his biting and tearing were being wasted on me rather than the on other dog. He quickly let go of me and took aim at the other dog’s hind leg. The Wilsons had to keep him tied up until the authorities were sure he didn’t have rabies. It was a good thing for ma and the dog that he had his shots. I still have the scars but I never did blame the dog. He was a good dog.