The "Main Tunnel"

The "Main Tunnel" (HMZOI)

Location: San Jose, CA 95120 Santa Clara County
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Country: United States of America
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N 37° 10.606', W 121° 50.47'

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Inscription
[Side-bar on left:]
The Beginning
of New Almaden's
Rich History
Just ahead lies the original site of mining activity in New Almaden's rich history, where Ohlone Indians extracted cinnabar ore from a "red cave". In 1845, while visiting Mission Santa Clara, Mexican soldier Andres Castillero observed Ohlones using crushed cinnabar as a paint pigment. He recognized the significance of such a find and followed the Ohlones to this site.

Castillero claimed his "discovery" and began mining the cinnabar ore, which was known to contain mercury - a valuable liquid metal needed by Mexico to process silver and gold. This Main Tunnel was the principal entrance to the New Almaden Mine, which would grow to become the richest mining area in all of California.
Details
HM NumberHMZOI
Tags
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Placed ByNew Almaden Quicksilver County Park Association
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Wednesday, October 1st, 2014 at 7:31am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)10S E 602871 N 4115110
Decimal Degrees37.17676667, -121.84116667
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 37° 10.606', W 121° 50.47'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds37° 10' 36.36" N, 121° 50' 28.20" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)408
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 23-39 Yellow Kid Trail, San Jose CA 95120, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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