New Idria, California
Encyclopedia : N : NE : NEW : New Idria, California
New Idria was a previously mining-oriented, now ghost town in coastal range of California, outside of Hollister, California up in the Diablo mountains. The community was established in the 19th century and the town was named New Idria in honour of Idrija, Slovenia, which also used to be a mercury-mining town.
History
The community was established for mining purposes, mainly for extracting mercury ore, cinnabar. Before Spanish discovery, the place was very well known to local Indians, who used the red cinnabar as pigment. The Spanish started mining there in 1850s, soon after they became aware of the presence of great deposits of ore in that area. At one time, New Idria mines were America's second most productive mines, with the New Almaden mines in vicinity being the first.The discovery of mercury ore at New Idria coincided with the California gold rush in 1848-1858. At that time, mercury was a key component in extracting gold from gold ore. Before New Idria and New Almaden, the world's supply of mercury was controlled almost exclusively by Europe, so if Americans wanted to get mercury, they had to pay for it with gold. The two Californian mines made America independent in that department.
Currently, there are reported to be only a couple of people left inhabiting the town. There are about 20 buildings in New Idria, all in various states of decay. Since the town was mining-dependent, the shutdown of mines drove its inhabitants away in search of jobs.
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Pollution problems
New Idria unfortunately lies in highly erodible and asbestos-rich part of California. There are many other mines in vicinity of New Idria. The mines were operational from 1854 to 1975, the remains now being a major source of pollution and currently a Superfund cleanup site.Location
New Idria is isolated, but not difficult to reach. Its location is on New Idria road, 35 km from Panoche road. The last half kilometre of the road is paved, although in very bad condition. The water in nearby creeks is poisonous due to pollution problems and is not drinkable.External links
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