New Almaden
New Almaden
408 | |
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GNIS feature ID | 1659212[1] |
New Almaden, known in Spanish as Nueva Almadén, is a historic community and former mercury mine in the Capitancillos Hills of San Jose, California, located at the southwestern point of Almaden Valley in South San Jose. New Almaden is divided into two parts: the mines and much of their immediate surroundings, including historic ghost town settlements in the Capintancillas, which together form the Almaden Quicksilver County Park, and the largely residential historic district surrounding the Casa Grande.
Discovered in the 1820s by Mexican settlers, New Almaden mines are the oldest mines in California and were one of the most productive mercury mines in the country.[2][3] Long before the arrival of the Spanish, Mexicans, and Americans, the indigenous Ohlone people had long utilized the area for its cinnabar, which they used in paint production.[4]
History
The mine is named for a
In 1863, acting on information that title to the mine had not been proven, Abraham Lincoln attempted to seize the mine, but the federal agent and deputy federal marshal were met at the mine gates by armed miners. Mindful of the possibility of losing the loyalty of California during the Civil War, the federal government backed off[19] and Barron, Forbes Company was allowed to sell it to American investors for $1.75 million.[20][21]
Arthur De Wint Foote worked at New Almaden in the late 1870s under James Butterworth Randol.[22]
Representations of historical life at the New Almaden Mine were drawn in vivid detail 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.[23] 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.
Environment
Mining operations resulted in mercury
Geology
The mineralized area in the Almaden mining district where the New Almaden and the nearby Guadalupe mine are located is within the large
New Almaden Mines
New Almaden | |
Area | 3,200 acres (1,300 ha) |
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Built | 1854 |
NRHP reference No. | 66000236[26] |
CHISL No. | 339 and 339-1[27] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966[26] |
Designated NHL | July 4, 1961[28] |
The entrances to the mines are closed off. After being identified as a
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 who were stationed there for a time.
Two California Historical Landmark markers honor New Almaden Mine: #339 marks a cinnabar hill where Indians gathered pigment for paint, while #339-1 is near Arroyo de los Alamitos Creek where the actual mining of ore first occurred.[27]
There is also a museum adjacent at the site.
Almaden Quicksilver County Park
Almaden Quicksilver County Park is a 4,147 acre (17 km2)
Conversion from mines to park
In the period 1976 to 1978 the county developed a number of new large parks in rapid succession including
The county parks director envisioned a historic park where visitors could experience the mining past and also enjoy the
Principal issues assessed in the park proposal:
- biological impacts upon habitat by park users
- water quality impacts to creeks draining the watershed
- visual and drainage impacts of road improvements
- historical analysis of mine usage
New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum
The New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum is located in the Casa Grande (big house) at 21350 Almaden Road in New Almaden. La Casa Grande, an 1854 revival-style mansion designed and built by architect Francis Myers, 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 technology, a mine manager's office with period displays, and artifacts from
Notable residents
- Pat Tillman, Arizona Cardinals All-Pro safety
See also
References
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: New Almaden
- ^ Snell, Charles W. (April 24, 1964). "New Almaden". National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings (Revised). National Park Service.
- ^ "New Almaden". Photographs. National Park Service.
- ^ NPS Santa Clara guide
- ^ Pizarro, Sal (July 13, 2021). "After 131 years, California pioneer gets a gravesite marker in Santa Clara". The Mercury News. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
- ^ a b Edgar Herbert Bailey, Donald Lough Everhart Geology and quicksilver deposits of the New Almaden district, Santa Clara County, California Professional Paper 360 USGS
- ^ United States. District Court (California : Northern District) Land Case 420 ND
- ^ Finding Aid to the Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, circa 1852-1892
- ^ "The United States vs. Andres Castillero : "New Almaden" : transcript of the record (1859)". United States. District Court (California : Northern District). 1859. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
- ^ "THE U.S. SUPREME COURT.; Decision in the New-Almaden Case--Prize Cases--Close of the Term". The New York Times. March 11, 1863. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
- ^ United States. District Court (California : Northern District) Land Case 132 ND
- ^ United States v. Fossat, U.S. Supreme Court, 61 U.S. 20 How. 413 413 (1857)
- ^ United States v. Fossat, U.S. Supreme Court, 62 U.S. 21 How. 445 445 (1858)
- ^ Report of the Surveyor General 1844 - 1886 Archived 2013-03-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ The Fossat or Quicksilver Mine Case, U.S. Supreme Court, 69 U.S. 2 Wall. 649 649 (1864)
- ISBN 0-520-24217-3
- ^ ZIP Code Lookup
- ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
- ^ "The Almaden Mine Case.; THE ORDER OF SEIZURE BY GOVERNMENT REVOKED". The New York Times. August 16, 1863. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
From the San Francisco Bulletin, July 18
- ^ Martin Cheek (January 18, 2012) [First published in 2005]. "Lincoln and the South Valley". Gilroy Dispatch. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
- JSTOR 3633317.
- ^ Rickard, Thomas Arthur (1992). Interviews with Mining Engineers. Mini. p. 172.
Arthur De Wint Foote.
- ^ Foote, Mary Hallock (February 1878). "A California Mining Camp". HathiTrust. Scribner's Monthly. pp. 480–494. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ^ "New Almaden Mines". Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Program. U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
- ^ "New Almaden Mine CERCLA Site". Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration. Sacramento, CA: California Department of Fish and Wildlife. December 11, 2018.
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ a b "California Historical Landmark: Santa Clara County". Office of Historic Preservation. California State Parks. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- ^ a b "New Almaden". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on November 14, 2007. Retrieved January 17, 2008.
- ^ Martin Cheek, "Mercury Uprising," San Jose Magazine 9, no. 1 (January 2006): 80-85
- ^ Almaden Quicksilver Master Plan, County of Santa Clara, San Jose, California (1976)
- ^ David Crimp, Leda Patmore, C. Michael Hogan, Harry Seidman and Vivian Paparigian, Final Environmental Impact Report, Almaden Quicksilver Park, prepared by Earth Metrics Inc. for the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department (1976)
- Jose Pitti; Antonia Castaneda & Carlos Cortes (December 1988). "Five Views: An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California / Mexican Americans in California / Historic Sites / Spanishtown Site, New Almaden, Santa Clara County". National Park Service. Retrieved January 17, 2008.
Further reading
- Jimmie Schneider, Quicksilver: The Complete History of Santa Clara County's New Almaden Mine, Zella Schneider Pub (November 1992), hardcover, 178 pages, ISBN 978-0963457707
- Edgar Herbert Bailey, Donald Lough Everhart Geology and quicksilver deposits of the New Almaden district, Santa Clara County, California Professional Paper 360 USGS
External links
- Almaden Quicksilver County Park
- Volunteer Organization supporting the Park, includes more information about the park and museum
- Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. CA-114, "New Almaden Quicksilver Mine", 16 photos, 17 measured drawings, 15 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
- The Quicksilver Mines of New Almaden and Henriquita - Chapter 6 of "Scenes of Wonder and Curiosity in California" (1862) by James Mason Hutchings - description of life and operations at the mine site during the 1860s
- Guide to the Papers Relating to Quicksilver Mining, (ca. 1849-1894) at The Bancroft Library
- New Almaden Mine (Calif.) Collection, 1845-1973 housed at Stanford University Libraries