If your planning on taking a daycation soon and don't want to venture too far, visit Almaden Valley in San José. Make sure to stop at the Almaden Quicksilver Mines and Museum, Old Saint Anthony Church and a Ray of Sunshine Farm. The 4,163-acre Almaden Quicksilver County Park has over 83 miles of hiking, biking and equestrian trails! The mining site was the largest mercury mine in the US and was home to more than 1,800 miners and their families between 1845 - 1927. read more

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A small, old fashioned museum - lots of stuff in cases with signs. And of course, the obligatory video loop. I am very interested in California history - in fact, I've written a booked called the California Mission Guide. But there was very little in this museum that caught or held my interest. I spent about 20 minutes there. It's nicely maintained, and clearly there has been a lot of money invested - but it's just really not worth a trip. The grounds are nice and there are picnic tables and grills, and connections to the hiking trails in the park. But as a museum, I'd pass. read more

We arrived at Casa Grande, found easy free parking out front, and were greeted by the park ranger/staff who gave a quick and simple rundown of the place, then we were free to roam the premises at our own pace. We swiftly explored the lower level of the mansion, then made our way to the museum on the other side, which packed a lot into a small space, including several interactive exhibits. I was amused learning about the mining history of the area and the use of mercury over time, through a collection of artifacts with clear labels and descriptions, such as the intermittent brick furnace exhibit, and the medical supplies display noting how workers paid just $1 per month for health insurance through the Miners Fund, with a doctor treating a multitude of injuries. There was even a screen showing the evolution of cinnabar and turning it into mercury, and the many uses of quicksilver in medical supplies, scientific processes, and more (I think you can request a different mining film to show, if you have a preference). Donations are suggested at entry, but not really monitored (you just deposit a couple bucks into a donation bucket). And though there's not a whole lot to see here, it's still a unique museum and opportunity to learn about an important piece of history. It was convenient to check out before making our way to the Almaden Quicksilver County Park hiking trails, where there are several more exhibits to view on site if interested. read more

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A great museum tells the quicksilver story so well.I lived in one of the miners homes for 10 years and loved the area.

Parking was easy to find. Really cool museum! I love that it dives into the history of the people living there during the mining period, the science of how mining and extracting metals worked, as well as how the mining business worked. It also honestly describes the impact it had on the workers and the prejudices different groups of people experienced, which I really appreciated. There was a sealed cube holding actual mercury, I believe, and other interactive items. We also walked around the house and saw old furniture acquired from around the world, watched some videos playing that described the mining process, and read about individual people's stories. The grounds were also quiet and enjoyable. I highly recommend visiting! read more

The Bay Area continues to surprise me with new finds and interesting things to do! This is a small but loaded and super interesting museum regarding Almaden's mining history. It was fascinating to learn the history and the museum does a good job of transporting you to those times with both audio and visual exhibits. All I will say is....I am glad I am part of this generation and I will never complain about losing power for a bit or something else trivial compared to what these people had to go through to survive. The employee there seemed super knowledgeable. She was giving two other people a detailed tour so we just explored the museum ourselves. Adding this spot to the list of things to do when we have out of town guests. So interesting mount town new Almaden experiential read more

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I was surprised to find out that there is a well-preserved historical landmark like this in the Bay Area. It's truly a treasure for newcomers and the younger generation of Northern Californians to learn about the history of Silicon Valley. The place is immaculately presented, and the tour guide did an excellent job telling the stories behind the display with a great sense of humor and knowledge. I'll be back with my niece and nephews soon. I am sure they will have a great time. read more

Such a fun bit of local history that I had been totally unaware of. The park ranger was really friendly and popped over a few times while we were browsing the museum to offer a few tidbits of history. The museum is small so you will finish quickly. Stop by when you are in the area or for one of their events. There's lots of parking in the lot and it is free. read more

Beautiful views, beautiful hike and nice little river since we had 10 days of rain. Fun for kids too. Saw a truck parked outside the gate with Felix the cat! Very cool! read more

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Great fun docents and staff that put on well attended and solid public events. Can't wait for casa grande to reopen to the public...

Came here for the free "Play Like a Miner" day for the kids. What a wonderful event, thanks to all the volunteers. A lot of the events were under natural tree shade, or indoors with air-conditioning. Croquet, panning, pie tins - great for kids! Learned so much about this interesting mine, which has a important place in US history. read more

I came here two weeks ago with a hiking group and thought the museum was definitely worth spending about half an hour or so. Nice exhibits and a little bit of history education. Admission is free and it's worth going to if you are in the area or planning to go after a hike. read more

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Great place to visit. Prepare not to have cell phone service up at the park if you have tmobile! The casa grande house is very nice. They allow you to tour the first floor which is set up with old furniture in the first half and detailed mining information in the other. There is also a little gift store that sells the little mining rocks, assorted rock jewelry, photos, books on mining and the native americans in california and a little guess the rock display. The museum had a lot of information written down. read more

I came to this museum because I was so interested in the history behind Quicksilver County Park where I went hiking a couple times. This museum is free to visit and it's well kept! The volunteers who work there were super friendly and very informative. They spent time giving me a free tour and explaining the origins of all of the furniture used inside the display rooms. I found out this place is also used for weddings! I could definitely see myself having a wedding here. The backyard is beautiful with a patio and lots of grass and trees and you can hear the creek run behind the museum. read more

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Good museum in Almaden Valley to see if you happen to be in the area. First, there are the traditional exhibits, then information about mining in the area, and finally a separate outdoor exhibit and grounds. A suggested donation of $2.00 is requested of each person visiting and the museum is open Friday thru Tuesday. This is good for a quick visit; maybe about 30-45 minutes at most. read more

On the way to Almaden Quicksilver County park to hike, my friend and I stopped by the museum to learn about Mercury mine. The guide tour had just began, so we jumped in the audience. The guide was really knowledgeble. Actually I didn't know anything about the mine here, so I learned a lot. Venue is not very big, but clean and nice. The ranger was also friendly. read more

Hg, Latin abbr for liquid silver (quicksilver). I learned a lot about the history and process of mining from this museum. The ranger was most informative. She showed us pictures of the Hacienda's past occupants and much more. Mercury is toxic after being processed into vapor and liquid form. The red dust from cinnabar mineral powder is not toxic unless ingested. It was used by the Native Americans to decorate their faces. It was also traded to the Chinese for lacquer pottery. The first mercury mine in the world was in Almaden Spain, which our Alamden Valley, 2nd mine in the world, was named after. Mercury in America became high demand during the CA gold rush; used as gold extraction. This mine saved America from the price setting mercy of trading mercury with Spain. read more

This museum is such an Almaden treasure! It's well-maintained, interesting and has plenty of parking. Plus, it's free (but please consider donating)! I had much more fun than I anticipated! The volunteer docent, Joan, was happy to give me a free tour, and she was very personable and really knew her stuff! I had no idea just how big of a deal these mines were--apparently they supplied so much Quicksilver that the world price for it dropped in half?! Lincoln wanted to take over the mines, so the residents held off the army with guns?! What fascinating history! Joan also had so many other interesting stories that you wouldn't learn from a self-tour--apparently the museum had an exorcism a few months ago to get rid of a resident ghost. I really love how passionate the volunteers are who run this place. In my opinion, the best way to get the full experience of the Old Almaden area is to begin at this museum, Casa Grande, and ask for the free tour, which will teach you much more than you can learn on your own. Afterwards, ask for the walking tour map, which is called "Step into the Past"--it encapsulates a 1.6 mile self-guided walk through the surrounding neighborhood, with information about various stops. There are markers on the road to help you find your way. Highlights include the Hacienda Park Entrance (bell tower), Hacienda Cemetery (famous for its grave with a single arm) and St. Anthony's Church. Also, when you visit Bulmore Park, keep your eye out for the Pat Tillman memorial--it's not about the area's mining history, but is still an important monument to a local hero. You will have to walk on the street at times, but there's very little traffic, and the cars are slow. The map conveniently leads you in a loop all the way back to the Casa Grande. Have fun! read more

We came here for a mining event (free entry to everyone) over the weekend. It was organized very well with booths for individual activity. Parking was free and rangers were very nice to everyone. Museum itself is small but this yearly event makes it worth the drive to Almaden. Fun and enjoyable time to find out how mining was done in the past. read more

A group of us sr. citizen hikers took a short hike at the Almaden quicksilver park last Friday. Then we drove collection of the mining equipment and story of how mercury was mined. Previously, I had no idea of the role that mercury played in the refining of gold. There's only a few places on earth where mercury (or called quicksilver) was mined. Quicksilver is no longer mined here. We were lucky to have had a very knowledgeable docent show us around. Try to get on a tour. You will get much more out of your visit. read more

I had my (outdoor) wedding here on the last weekend of October and it was fantastic. Beautiful grounds, tons of space, cost efficient, AND the place is historically interesting on top of that. I got tons of compliments on this venue. Dealing with the Park Use Coordinator was easy as pie - she was extremely responsive to all of my emails, friendly, and helpful. Because of the staff here, wedding planning went very smoothly for me. Yes, you have to bring in all of your own stuff - but that's really no problem at all for the DIY-minded. That said, you can really make everything your own. You can put up your own string lights and decor, bring in your own rental tables/chairs/dishes/flatware, caterer, baker, DJ/band/sound system - the large, outside patio is beautiful and spacious and can accommodate quite a lot of people. The catering kitchen was also awesome. So much space for food and prep, plus two walk-in fridges to store stuff in. As for the actual ceremony, there are a number of spaces where this can take place. A lot of people seem to have their wedding right in front of the house itself, which is very nice. We chose to have our ceremony near the water tower - there are a couple of trees there that grow closely together and form a natural arch - shady and beautiful. I was here a couple of weekends ago and another wedding was taking place - they had actually tied bunches of flowers from these trees - a nice touch and very picturesque. Anyway, highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend this place for wedding, parties, or any big event. read more

Located within Almaden Quicksilver Park, this museum is a San Jose gem that too few people know about. After the discovery of quicksilver (mercury) in the area, Almaden was named after a similar quicksilver mining location in Spain. The museum is house in the Casa Grande - which was the main house of the manager of the mine back in its heyday. The museum has all sorts of fabulous old pictures, examples of the tools and instruments used in getting the mercury out of the ground, information on how exactly the quicksilver was removed from the rocks once mined, what quicksilver was used for once it had been extracted, and a mine diorama to show what it was like inside a mine shaft. The staff are incredibly friendly and open to questions. In fact, when I visited the mine in the month before my winter solstice wedding and complimented them on the amazing swag of real holly they had framing the main door, the person who had harvested the holly from her mother's property and made the swag offered me bags of holly to use to decorate my wedding venue in exchange for a donation to the museum. This is definitely a piece of San Jose history that everyone should take the time to visit - and is a fabulous place to take out of town visitors - especially if the museum visit can be followed by a hike through the other historic locations in the park (check out reviews of the park on Yelp for more info about hiking, etc.) read more

We went here on a Saturday around 11 am. It's a little hidden gem. Away from the crowds and full of history. Mary was our tour guide, she is one of the most enthusiastic and energetic tour guides we've seen. The walking tour was throughly informative and enjoyable. We stayed on after the tour, walking the grounds and taking pictures. The next time we have out of town visitors, we will definitely bring them here. read more

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This museum is a wonderful, well preserved piece of San Jose history. My tour guide, Jim, was kind and well knowledgeable. He gave great insight about the museum and I learned so much more about mercury mining history and the people who lived in the Casa Grande. I definitely recommend visiting this museum if you get the chance! read more

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Just twelve miles from San Jose's city center and 200 years ago, the Ohlone used the mercury bearing red rock found in a sacred cave in their face paint. They traded it to other Native Americans up and down the Pacific Northwest. It was highly valued. And, it was toxic. If the Ohlone could have retained the rights to their ancestral land around Almaden and developed it commercially in the 1850s on, they would have owned the largest and richest mine in California, ever. Liquid mercury was the real "gold" during California's Gold Rush and "silver" from Nevada's Comstock Lode because it was needed to separate these precious metals from their ores until a more readily available substance, just as toxic, was found...cyanide(!) Ships from around the world sailed into nearby Alviso with bricks as ballast. They offloaded the bricks for 76 pound vials of precious mercury hauled daily from NewAlmaden. Some of the bricks you can see today, stamped with the brick factory name in the sidewalks of New Almaden next to the Casa Grande/New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum. New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum is a small museum inside the Casa Grande. It's so well done, informative and hands on. The history of many cultures and peoples is represented here: Ohlone, Chinese, Mexican, and English to name a few. Their history and ours are united by this red rock. Admission is free! Before you go, it's a good idea to call for times and events. There are walking tours and costumed docents on some weekends who will guide you through Casa Grande's Victorian Era period room furnished to resemble the time it was a home to the mine manager and their families. Kids (and adults) love this place and historic trails nearby. There are even guided van tours of the nearby mine sites on May 19, July 21, August 4, Sept 9 and Oct 27. P. S. Have you considered replacing those old amalgam fillings? read more

Nestled into the hills of the Almaden Valley, this museum is a quaint surprise and makes for a great half day trip. Who knew San Jose had anything to offer, right?? Anyway, the museum sheds quite a bit of light into San Jose's history--for example, why the Mercury News is thus named. The museum itself is quite small, but has some interesting displays and artifacts. All of the employees are incredibly friendly and provide lots of random historic facts. There appears to be a dining facility next door (not La Foret) but I haven't had the chance to figure out what it is. Don't forget to walk down the small street from the museum as well, as a lot of the homes are also a part of the South Bay's history. read more

Did you know that Almaden means mining or that Quicksilver was the original word for mercury? Well now you know. There are a lot of other interesting facts you can learn on a tour. The suggested donation for the museum is $2 and it's well worth the cost. I highly recommend this little museum if you're in the area. read more

Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum - View of the building from the parking lot - Museums Near Me - San Jose, California

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For those who don't know, the Almaden area of San Jose used to be a "mining town". For an interesting story on the history try this link http://www.santaclararesearch.net/quickmine.html It's only an hour or so to get through the place. It's a must do for all us natives of the area read more

This place is surprisingly awesome. I was expecting a one room museum with a few artifacts, but this place had many rooms with great exhibits. There were rooms that had furniture and clothing dating back to this 1800s. And other rooms with modern displays of mining Equipment and rock samples Including pictures Of the mining town and the miners. And the curator of the place who worked for Santa Clara County Parks service was fantastic!! Very knowledgeable of the history of the area. I highly recommend this Museum. read more

Really enjoyed this small museum. Many artifacts . Great docents willing to spend time with you, Jo Anne was our docent and she was very informative and passionate about the history of the museum. The outside is very charming with the river in the background and tables and chairs for picnic . Strolling along the street one can see some of the original houses. read more

Beautiful venue for a wedding or outdoor celebration however wish I would've read the previous yelp reviews! Recently we got this venue for a wedding however the park rangers and neighbors made it a nightmare! Music is a must it's just how a nice celebration functions however upon on the arrival of musicians/dj park rangers and a specific neighbor were rude and demanded no music to be played, we tried to negotiate to not be so loud when a specific neighbor very unreasonable and hysterically causing a scene dramatically said he would walk into our wedding with the sheriffs and cause an even more embarrassing scene isn't this beautiful for a happily ever after?! Long story short we had a wedding with no music, where we lost money on both our musicians and our DJ. Park ranger shouldve informed us upon signing the contract for the venue that they have a crazy neighbor and for that reason no music is to be played. That would've saved us money, and embarrassment! read more

This is a great little hidden gem. Tucked away in San Jose is this great park with lots of hiking trails and a very informative little museum about mining. The museum has two parts to it, there is the building with traditional exhibits and plenty of information about mining in the area and a separate outdoor exhibit with all of the old equipment at the foot of the trails. Neither takes very long to see but if you head out to hit the trails, take a moment to peek in ans appreciate the area's history. read more

This is an awesome place to know more about the mining history and San Jose's backyard. The building is very well renovated, and the exhibits are pretty cool. People working there are great and friendly. Jim, a local "mercury" mining expert in the old days, voluntarily gave everyone a great talk on the mine's past and how everything evolved over the years. My wife and I had a great time there. Please check the office hours before you go. read more

Went here for a wedding, absolutely great riverside banquet venue. That is probably why it started to go bad, people kept coming and intruding on the event even though we posted signs around the grounds. It looked like people were poking in and taking self tours of the museum. No help from staff for getting rid of event intruders. Then staff yanked the music permit...at 6pm...DO NOT GO HERE IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A BAND OR DANCE THEY WILL SHUT YOU DOWN! The main support your event gets is a parks employee walking around with a sound meter! And the worst is that they had no video surveillance of thefts on grounds. read more

We had a wonderful time. We did the hike in the mining area a week ago and decide to visit Casa Grande. The park manager, J. Lee gave a detailed account of the Casa Grande and how it was restored. Jim Campbell the volunteer also gave his account on the mining of the quicksilver. great day out. read more

Came here for a wedding. Lovely venue! Beautiful inside and out. Only thing to complain about is no cell phone reception, but that's not really the venue's fault at all. It's just an inconvenience. Otherwise, it's a marvelous museum. read more

Fun little museum. Very interesting and informative about the mines here in Almaden. Check it out

We stopped by while visiting the area and were given an expert and informative tour of the museum and the history of the mercury mines by Heidi, one of the park service interpreters. She recommended a trail hike through the state park and showed us a recommended route which saved us a great deal of bumbling about. It was a great day well spent, due in large part to Heidi's knowledge and friendly enthusiasm. read more

Beautiful venue and grounds. Quite unfortunate that the administrative staff and all but one of the site staff are extremely rude, condescending, and pompous. Our family requested facility for surprise 65th birthday. It was expensive at $175:hr though we wanted it to special and it was beautiful. After much discussion of music, they approved an acoustic trio and we paid the facility fee of $883/5 hours. We were ecstatic! Two days prior to our event we received an email indicating our music was not approved and had to cancel our musicians, or had the option of changing venue or simply canceling the event. This was unacceptable as we had a contract with musicians and would incur monetary damages and changing locations two days prior is not reasonable. I argued for two days and Friday at 4:30 received a restricted approval. On the day of the event they staffed our event with two attendants and a Mean Park Ranger. Two tables that promised were omitted. The male attendant was professional, spoke respectably and kindly though the other attendant and mean park ranger stood on the second level patio staring at our guests with mean faces. Like a prisoner movie- they were prison guards and we were prisoners at yard time. They made us all very uncomfortable. When time came for music to stop and not a minute after, the mean park ranger made sure she told me in a super authoritative tone to "shut it down" extremely unprofessional. As a contributing member of this county, this is a park area that we are supposed to enjoy. I did not enjoy my event having to argue and justify everything we did. I would never recommend or rent this facility again. read more

This where my dad grow up in Almaden his father was a mining here. In fews I week i will bring him back so he can tell his great -grandson where he live and the story about Almanden Quicksilver.and his father is in the Museum and book too.And ther manys great story about this hill. it been a blessing ! read more