About this episode
This episode explores the history of the New Almaden mercury mine and its impact on the region near San Jose.
Before Silicon Valley, before the Valley of Heart’s Delight, the hills south of San Jose were home to one of the world’s richest mercury mines: New Almaden. Its quicksilver powered the California Gold Rush, but today, few traces of those boom boom days remain, other than the toxic legacy still circulating in the San Francisco Bay. In today's episode we answer three listener questions about the mine and it's history. Additional Resources: New Almaden: The Mercury Mine That Built a Boomtown South of San José Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcastsThis story was reported by Rachael Myrow. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
People in this episode
Host: Olivia Allen-Price
Topics covered
- history
- society
- culture
- places
- travel
Keywords
- New Almaden
- mercury mine
- California Gold Rush
- toxic legacy
- San Francisco Bay
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Bay Curious
Places: San Jose, Silicon Valley, the Valley of Heart’s Delight, New Almaden, the San Francisco Bay, San José
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