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| Landmark #339-1 | Santa Clara County | Visited: August 28, 2016 | Plaque? YES! 🙂 |
| What is it? | A plaque on the side of the road! |
| What makes it historical? | THE GUIDE SAYS: Here, along Arroyo de los Alamitos Creek, Luís Cabolla and Antonio Suñol did the first mining in California as they worked New Almaden ore in their arrastra. In constant production since 1845, the mine has produced more than a million flasks of quicksilver valued at over $50 million.
OTHER TIDBITS: You can recognize cinnabar by its bright red pigment, which was used as a dye in many different cultures for thousands of years, until it was found to be highly toxic! To extract the mercury from the ore, miners would heat the cinnabar in a furnace until the mercury evaporated and condensed into a liquid form, also called quicksilver! When introduced into a mix of gold or silver ore, the mercury absorbs the gold or silver into an amalgam, gets separated from the rest of the mix, and then evaporates from the valuable ore once again! |
| How can I Help the Helpers? | HERE’S HOW:
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| Where is this place? | LISTED DIRECTIONS: Bulmore Park Almaden Rd and Almaden Way New Almaden, CA 95120 ANNOTATIONS: From Los Angeles: ~335mi (540km) — 5.6hrs |
| When should I go? | Whenever the mood strikes you! |