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Photo, Print, Drawing New Almaden Quicksilver Mine, New Almaden Quicksilver Mine County Park, New Almaden, Santa Clara County, CA Almaden Mine, Office & Shop Buildings

View 16 images in sequence.
[ Photos from Survey HABS CA-114  ]

More Resources

View 17 images in sequence.
[ Drawings from Survey HABS CA-114  ]
[ Data Pages from Survey HABS CA-114  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HABS CA-114  ]
[ pdf version of supplemental pages ]

About this Item

Title

  • New Almaden Quicksilver Mine, New Almaden Quicksilver Mine County Park, New Almaden, Santa Clara County, CA

Other Title

  • Almaden Mine, Office & Shop Buildings

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Castillero, Andres
  • Forbes, J Alexander
  • Ward, Clarence R, historian
  • County of Santa Clara, sponsor
  • Bruegmann, Robert, project manager
  • Schafer, Jack W, field team
  • Hamm, Carolyn, historian
  • Cigliano, Jan, editor
  • Myers, Denys Peter, editor
  • Kerrigan, Robert W, photographer
  • Knowles, William H, field team supervisor
  • Elwood, S F, delineator
  • Coleman, K C, field team
  • Lingstrom, G C, field team
  • Vogulkin, N P, delineator
  • Huber, O, delineator
  • Kerrigan, Robert W, photographer

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  mining
  • -  mercury mining
  • -  chimneys
  • -  mine shafts
  • -  California--Santa Clara County--New Almaden

Notes

  • -  Significance: The New Almaden mine is the site of the first mercury deposit discovered on the American continent and has yielded metal of greater value than that of any other mine in the State, producing nearly one-third of the country's supply of mercury. The ore deposit was discovered in 1824 but not recognized as a mercury deposit until 1846. At that time, the town was renamed New Almaden after the Almaden mine in Spain, the world's greatest mercury producer. Until the discovery of the cyanide process in 1887, quicksilver was the chief reduction agent used in processing gold and silver. The metal extracted from the New Almaden mine thus made possible the rapid development of gold and silver quartz mining in California and the Comstock Lode in Nevada during the 1850s and 1860s. Since then, production has fluctuated with the opening and exhausting of ore deposits. In 1927 mining activity was terminated for the first time since 1849. Mining was resumed during World War II. The mine is inactive today. A few of the 1850s wooden and adobe structures, offices, mine structures and old furnace buildings remain. The site became a National Historic Landmark in 1964 and part of Santa Clara County's park district in 1975.
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-74
  • -  Survey number: HABS CA-114
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1845- 1900 Initial Construction

Medium

  • Photo(s): 16
  • Measured Drawing(s): 17
  • Data Page(s): 15
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 2

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS CAL,43-ALMA,1-

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • ca0950

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HABS CAL,43-ALMA,1-
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

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    • If possible, include a printout of the photograph.
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    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
    • If possible, include a printout of the drawing.
  • Data Pages
    • Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

If Digital Images Are Not Displaying

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  • Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
  • P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
  • Hire a freelance researcher to do further selection for you (a list of researchers in available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/resource/013_pic.html).
  • You can purchase copies of various types, including quick copies, through Library of Congress Duplication Services (price lists, contact information, and order forms for Library of Congress Duplication Services are available on the Duplication Services Web site):
    • Make note of the Call Number listed above.
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  1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

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      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.

  2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

    • Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.
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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, Andres Castillero, J Alexander Forbes, Clarence R Ward, Sponsor County Of Santa Clara, Robert Bruegmann, Jack W Schafer, et al., Kerrigan, Robert W, and Robert W Kerrigan, photographer. New Almaden Quicksilver Mine, New Almaden Quicksilver Mine County Park, New Almaden, Santa Clara County, CA. California Santa Clara County New Almaden, 1933. editeds by Cigliano, Jan, and Myers, Denys Peter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/ca0950/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Castillero, A., Forbes, J. A., Ward, C. R., County Of Santa Clara, S., Bruegmann, R. [...] Huber, O., Kerrigan, R. W. & Kerrigan, R. W., photographer, Cigliano, J. & Myers, D. P., eds. (1933) New Almaden Quicksilver Mine, New Almaden Quicksilver Mine County Park, New Almaden, Santa Clara County, CA. California Santa Clara County New Almaden, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/ca0950/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al., photographers by Kerrigan, Robert W, and Robert W Kerrigan. New Almaden Quicksilver Mine, New Almaden Quicksilver Mine County Park, New Almaden, Santa Clara County, CA. ed by Cigliano, Jan, and Myers, Denys Peter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/ca0950/>.