New Almaden
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New Almaden Smelting Works, 1863. Photo: Carleton Watkins
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Nearest city: | San Jose, California |
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Built: | 1854 [1] |
Governing body: | Local |
NRHP Reference#: | 66000236 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP: | October 15, 1966[2] |
Designated NHL: | July 4, 1961[3] |
The New Almaden quicksilver mine in the Santa Teresa Hills in Santa Clara County, California, United States, is the oldest and most productive quicksilver (i.e., mercury) mine in the U.S.[4] The site was known to the Ohlone Indians for its cinnabar long before a Mexican settler discovered the ores in 1820. By the time they were identified as mercury, the mine was perfectly timed to supply the California Gold Rush.[5] The mine ran intermittently after 1927 and eventually closed. It was purchased by the county and is now part of Almaden Quicksilver County Park.
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The mine is named for a mercury mine in (old) Almadén, Spain, which had operated since at least Roman times. The term Almadén, meaning "the mine".[6], is derived from the Arabic language through medieval Islamic Spain.
Arthur De Wint Foote worked at New Almaden in the late 1870s under Randol.[7]
Historical life at the New Almaden mine was vividly drawn by Mary Hallock Foote, the wife of Arthur DeWint Foote, the Resident Engineer from 1876. Her illustrated correspondence about New Almaden, "A California Mining Camp", appeared in the February 1878 issue of Scribner's Monthly. New Almaden also features prominently in her memoir A Victorian Gentlewoman in the Far West, which was later fictionalized by Wallace Stegner in his novel Angle of Repose.
The entrances to the mines are closed off. After being identified as a superfund site and subsequent containment activities, the mining area can now be visited as part of the Santa Clara County Almaden Quicksilver county park. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961.[3] By the time Santa Clara County bought the mines in 1976 and ended operations, 83,974,076 pounds (37,388 metric tons) of mercury (worth more than US$70 million) had been extracted[8].
The remains of a variety of structures left over from the 135 years of mining activity, including housing for the up to 1,800 miners, are scattered about the park, with the biggest concentration at what was known as English Camp, established by Cornish miners in the 1860s. Some structures were built later by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and there is a memorial honoring the Civilian Conservation Corps firefighters that were stationed there for a time.
There is also a museum adjacent at the site.
Almaden Quicksilver County Park is a 4,147 acres (17 km²) park that includes the grounds of former mercury ("quicksilver") mines. The park's elevation varies greatly: the most used entrances (on the east side of the park) are less than 600 feet (183 m) above sea level, while the highest point in the park is over 1,700 feet (518 m) above sea level. During the coldest storms of the winter season, it is not uncommon for the high summits to receive a light dusting of snow; this light dusting usually melts by noon. The park is owned and managed by the County of Santa Clara and its grounds also include the Guadalupe Reservoir; adjacent to park is the Almaden Reservoir. The Casa Grande Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum is located nearby.
In the period 1976 to 1978 the county developed a number of new large parks in rapid succession including Grant Ranch Park, Sanborn Park and Almaden Quicksilver County Park. Very soon after buying the mining property in 1976, Santa Clara County began planning for park usage, in an era where the county parks program was aggressively expanding.
The county parks director envisioned a historic park where visitors could experience the mining past and also enjoy the biodiversity of the natural setting. Facilities plans were created[9] and an Environmental Impact Report was prepared[10].
Principal issues assessed in the park proposal were:
The New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum is located in the Casa Grande (big house) at 21350 Almaden Road in New Almaden. La Case Grande, an 1854 revival-style mansion designed and built by architect Francis Meyers, was the official residence and office of the mine superintendents, as well as a country retreat for wealthy mine investors. The mansion now serves as the site of the New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum, which contains exhibits about the history of mercury mining and the cultural history of the mining communities at New Almaden. The exhibits include a mine diorama of the interior of a mine shaft, mining equipment and techology, a mine manager's office with period displays, and artifacts from Cornish, Mexican and Chinese mining families.
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