New Almaden Museums

Contents: Home About NAQCPA, Membership, Donations News Newsletters Almaden Quicksilver Park Info Mining Museum, Museum Archives, Outdoor Museum Pioneer Days, New Almaden Days Media, Pictures Events Links _____________ Webmaster Contact	Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum The Casa Grande and the Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum were closed for renovation starting in 2009. The Grand Re-Opening ceremony was held on Pioneer Day, November 13, 2010. It re-opened on January 14, 2011. The museum is open-year round except for Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Hours vary seasonally. You can reach the museum at (408) 918-7770. It is located at 21350 Almaden Road in New Almaden. Call the museum or check the website first to be sure it is open. These are the current hours: Fridays-Sundays: 12:00-4:00 pm Mondays-Thursdays: Closed Many NAQCPA members have served as docents in the museum, giving guided tours. There are frequent events at the Casa Grande, such as Living History Days, Play Like a Miner, and historical talks. See the events calendar below. There are education programs for 4-6 graders. (Here is the Teaching and Activity Guide for Almaden Quicksilver.) One of the period rooms in the Casa Grande Mining exhibits in the Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum See Ron Horii's picture and description of the Casa Grande for the Visual San Jose 2015 Photo Contest. Mining Museum Archives The Archives of the New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum are online. NAQCPA members have been helping to scan in thousands of historical documents and pictures into the archive. The archives are available for searching and viewing. You can search for specific topics using keywords or just display random images to get a sample of the collection. You can order high-resolution images without watermarks. Here is an example of an historic photo from the archives: This yard, at the former site of the Hacienda Reduction Works, contains a collection of equipment from the New Almaden Mine and the Guadalupe mine. One item of particular interest is an old wooden Cornish pump from an English design which was used to pump water out of the mine shafts. Another unusual item, a cylindrical piece of machinery, was a small rotary furnace used for extracting Mercury from crushed cinnabar ore. Top of page Hacienda Mining Display Outdoor Museum Displays at the Hacienda Outdoor Museum For years, there was an unorganized collection of rusting mining equipment sitting behind a fence in the Hacienda area of Almaden Quicksilver near the Deep Gulch Trail entrance. Above is how it looked in 2008. NAQCPA members, led by Bruce Bartlett (above), organized, repaired, and re-arranged the equipment and added other mining equipment. They had interpretive signs made, paid for the fencing, and created life-size figures. Pioneer Day: Hacienda Mining Display Outdoor Museum, 10/8/11 Pioneer Day, Almaden Quicksilver 10/12/13, Hacienda Mining Display Outdoor Museum and Cornish Miners Top of page Copyright © New Almaden Quicksilver County Park Association For more information about the organization and activities, send us an email at naqcpa.newalmaden@gmail.com. For questions about the website, contact our webmaster, Ron Horii. Updated 6/17/24.

Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum

The Casa Grande and the Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum were closed for renovation starting in 2009. The Grand Re-Opening ceremony was held on Pioneer Day, November 13, 2010. It re-opened on January 14, 2011. The museum is open-year round except for Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Hours vary seasonally. You can reach the museum at (408) 918-7770. It is located at 21350 Almaden Road in New Almaden. Call the museum or check the website first to be sure it is open. These are the current hours:
Fridays-Sundays: 12:00-4:00 pm
Mondays-Thursdays: Closed

Many NAQCPA members have served as docents in the museum, giving guided tours. There are frequent events at the Casa Grande, such as Living History Days, Play Like a Miner, and historical talks. See the events calendar below. There are education programs for 4-6 graders. (Here is the Teaching and Activity Guide for Almaden Quicksilver.)

One of the period rooms in the Casa Grande

Mining exhibits in the Mining Museum

Mining exhibits in the Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum

See Ron Horii's picture and description of the Casa Grande for the Visual San Jose 2015 Photo Contest.

Mining Museum Archives

The Archives of the New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum are online. NAQCPA members have been helping to scan in thousands of historical documents and pictures into the archive. The archives are available for searching and viewing. You can search for specific topics using keywords or just display random images to get a sample of the collection. You can order high-resolution images without watermarks. Here is an example of an historic photo from the archives:

Historical picture of the Hacienda Reduction Works from the archive

This yard, at the former site of the Hacienda Reduction Works, contains a collection of equipment from the New Almaden Mine and the Guadalupe mine. One item of particular interest is an old wooden Cornish pump from an English design which was used to pump water out of the mine shafts. Another unusual item, a cylindrical piece of machinery, was a small rotary furnace used for extracting Mercury from crushed cinnabar ore.

Top of page

Hacienda Mining Display Outdoor Museum

Outdoor mining museum displays

Displays at the Hacienda Outdoor Museum

For years, there was an unorganized collection of rusting mining equipment sitting behind a fence in the Hacienda area of Almaden Quicksilver near the Deep Gulch Trail entrance. Above is how it looked in 2008.

Bruce Bartlett at the outdoor museum dedication

NAQCPA members, led by Bruce Bartlett (above), organized, repaired, and re-arranged the equipment and added other mining equipment. They had interpretive signs made, paid for the fencing, and created life-size figures.

Top of page

For more information about the organization and activities, send us an email at naqcpa.newalmaden@gmail.com.
For questions about the website, contact our webmaster, Ron Horii. Updated 6/17/24.