Image / New Almaden Smelting Works

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Title: New Almaden Smelting Works
Contributor: Watkins, Carleton E. (Photographer) (Creator)
Contributing Institution: San José State University, Special Collections and Archives
Collection: San José State University Archives Photograph Collection
Rights Information: San Jose State University Library Special Collections & Archives
Description: Written on verso: "Carlton Watkins c. 1863." Photograph shows the Smelting Works of New Almaden.
The New Almaden Quicksilver Mine in Santa Clara County, California is the oldest and most productive quicksilver (i.e., mercury) mine in the United States. 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. The mine ran intermittently after 1927 and eventually closed. It was purchased by the county and is now part of Almaden Quicksilver County Park. The town of New Almaden is located south of San Jose, off the Almaden Expressway. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Almaden
Scanned with Microtek Scanmaker 1000XL Pro; as a 600 dpi TIFF image in 8-bit Grayscale. Auto Level image processing applied and compressed into JPEG format using Photoshop CS3.
Type: image
Format: image/jpeg
5 X 7 in.
Identifier: islandora:81_277
filename: ua_almaden_mines_001
oclc: 601765045
islandora: 81_277
Language: English
Subject: Community Life
Mercury mining
Miners
Mining
Place: Santa Clara County
California
Relation: San Jose State University Archives Photograph Collection

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