Almaden, named after the ancient Spanish mining town ofAlmadén, traces its history back to the 1820s, when Mexican miners discovered mercury deposits onRancho Los Capitancillos, which later led to the establishment of theNew Almaden mines. Almaden Valley, known for its abundant parkland, is one of San Jose's most expensive neighborhoods to live in and is consistently ranked as one of the most expensive areas in the country.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
Almaden was originally inhabited by theTamien nation ofOhlone people, prior to the arrival of theSpanish. The Ohlone had long utilized the area for itscinnabar, which they used for paint production.[9]
The Hacienda de Beneficio inNew Almaden, shown in 1852View of Almaden Valley (William Rich Hutton, c. 1847–1852)
Almaden Valley's origins go back to the early 1800s in what is now its southernmost neighborhood, known asNew Almaden (Spanish:Nueva Almadén). In the 1820s, there were several attempts by localCalifornio officials from thePueblo of San José to mine the area for silver, including an 1824 venture led by DonAntonio Suñol, a prominent local figure, and Luis Chaboya, ofRancho Yerba Buena.[10]
Quicksilver (mercury) was only successfully identified in 1845, by Mexican cavalry captain Andrés Castillero, who was able to obtain a grant to mine the area by GovernorPío Pico.[10] However, occupied with his military responsibilities, Castillero sold his claim to the mines toAlexander Forbes, then serving as the British Consul to Mexican California.[10] The area was named after the ancient Spanish mining town ofAlmadén, where mercury has been mined since Roman times.[11][10]
Mercury was extracted from the New Almaden mines from the time of theCalifornia Gold Rush until 1975. Many of the names in Almaden retain their mercury mine themes, such as Silver Lode Lane and Silver Mine Drive. Many places in Almaden still use the name Quicksilver.
TheOld Almaden Winery, founded in 1852, was the first commercial winery established in California.
Following the AmericanConquest of California, Almaden Valley attracted a significant amount of settlers from theEast Coast and Europe.
In 1852, Charles LeFranc foundedAlmaden Vineyards, the first commercial winery in California,[12] with his father-in-law Éthienne Thée, using vine cuttings from his native France. FollowingProhibition, the winery and the company had great success with their blush wine and the White Grenache Rosé, one of the first popular pink wines in the United States. Almaden Vineyards has since moved its winery toMadera, California, while the historic remains of the property are now known as theOld Almaden Winery, which serves as a public park andCalifornia Historic Landmark.[13]
Beginning in the late 1800s, Almaden was home to the Graystone Quarry (originally theGoodrich Quarry), one of the most significant quarries in the Bay Area, used in the construction of landmarks includingSan Francisco City Hall,Stanford University,Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph, among numerous others. Today, the area where Graystone Quarry once existed and where the Pfeiffer family once lived is occupied by the neighborhood ofPfeiffer, also known as,the Graystone of Almaden, thus named after the quarry's stone master Jacob Pfeiffer and the Quarry.[14][15][16][17]
A community picnic in 1908 at the Casa Grande in theNew Almaden neighborhood of Almaden Valley
In December 1959, theRegents of the University of California selected Almaden Valley to be the site of the next campus of theUniversity of California system.[18] Unfortunately, news of this decision caused property values in the area to increase so rapidly that the Regents could no longer afford to buy the needed land.[18] After another year of study, the Regents selected another site much farther south, which opened in 1965 as theUniversity of California, Santa Cruz.[18]
TheSanta Teresa Hills are to Almaden's east, separating it from Santa Teresa, and the Capitancillos Hills of theSierra Azul are to Almaden's west and south.
Almaden Valley includes all the areas within the 95120 ZIP code, comprising the neighborhoods Almaden Country Club,Calero, Almaden Hills Estates, Almaden Meadows, Graystone,New Almaden, Pfeiffer Ranch, Shadow Brook and several more.
Los Alamitos Creek Trail passes through most of Almaden Valley, starting at the Almaden Lake and ending close to the Almaden Quicksilver County Park Almaden Lake Loop Trail
Almaden Valley is home to an expansive trail system, including:
Integral toSilicon Valley, Almaden is home to numerous high tech companies. It is notably home to theIBM Almaden Research Center, which played an important role in the discovery and development of new technologies.[25][26][27]
Almaden Valley is part of District 10[28] in the legislative structure of theSan Jose City Council and is represented by councilmember andSilicon Valley technology executive Arjun Batra.[29][30]
The racial makeup of Almaden Valley was 20,726 (54.4%)White, 13,866 (36.4%)Asian, 2,700 (7.1%)Hispanic orLatino, 741 (1.9%)African American, 124 (0.3%)Native American, 2184 (5.7%) from two or more races and 442 (1.2%) of some other race.
The population was spread out, with 9430 (24.7%) children under the age of 18, 21,243 (55.7%) adults aged 18 to 64, and 7,449 (19.5%) adults aged 65 years or older. The median age was 46.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.4 males.
Almaden Valley students attend primary, middle and high schools across three different school districts:San José Unified School District,Campbell Union School District andLos Gatos Union School District. While most neighborhoods are in San José Unified School District, some in the northwest are in the Campbell Union School District, and some in the southwest borderingLos Gatos are in the Los Gatos Union School District.[34]
Almaden is home to numerous annual cultural events, including the Almaden Art & Wine Festival, the Almaden Harvest Festival, and the San Jose Water Lantern Festival.[39][40][41]
Sporting events held in the area include the Quicksilver Endurance Runs and the Quicksilver Trail Challenge.[42]
Casa Grande was constructed in 1854, under the direction of the mine's general manager, Henry Halleck, who used the building until 1920 as a personal and official residence for the New Almaden Mining Company. John McLaren, ofGolden Gate Park fame, assisted in designing the five acres of formally landscaped grounds around the house.
In 1997,Santa Clara County purchased the building to house the Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum, which started as a private collection by Constance Perham, who displayed it in her house inNew Almaden. The new museum opened in 1998. The building underwent extensive renovation from 2009 to 2010 to restore it to its configuration when it was a mine manager's residence from 1854 to 1925. It reopened in January 2011. It houses interpretive exhibits and displays on the history of the New Almaden mines and on the lives of its workers and their families.[43]
The historic Hacienda Hotel, now home to La Forêt, one of San Jose's most famous French restaurants
In the mid-1800s, just a few years before the great California Gold Rush, Andres Castillera, a Mexican officer with the Artillery discovered cinnabar in New Almaden, a precious metal also known asquicksilver which bought Castillera lot of riches. As the word spread, New Almaden was thriving with miners trying to mine more cinnabar themselves.
In 1848, a boarding house was constructed by the creek in New Almaden as a house for boarding for the miners. Hot meals were served in the rustic dining room downstairs. This was the first two-story lodging in California. Fire destroyed the building in 1875 but it was rebuilt and stayed in operation in this capacity until the 1930s.
It was then converted into Cafe Del Rio which servedNew Almaden for almost 40 years.
In 1992, La Foret, a high-end French restaurant opened in the building. The restaurant, still in operation, is a local landmark inSan Jose and well known across the Bay Area for its fine dining.[44][45][46]
Atwo-teacher school was built in the 1860s on a flat near Casa Grande. Enrollment came chiefly from the Hacienda along with some children from nearby ranches. One of the oldest buildings in the district is the Carson-Perham Adobe, built between 1848 and 1850 by Mexican miners, and later the home of George Carson, the mine company bookkeeper, postmaster, telegraph operator, and Wells Fargo agent. Constance Perham lived in the adobe house for many years and established a private museum there in 1949, the collections of which were purchased in 1983 by Santa Clara County.[47]
The Tillman Story, a 2010 documentary on the life of Pat Tillman, who grew up in Almaden Valley, a defensive back with theArizona Cardinals. Tillman decided to walk away from a multimillion-dollar contract to go to Afghanistan in 2002, where he was killed. The documentary was nominated for theGrand Jury Prize at the2010 Sundance Film Festival. It was named 2010 Best Documentary by the San Francisco Film Critics Circle,[51] the St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association, and the Florida Film Critics Circle.[52]
David E. Osborne — Author,Reinventing Government andThe Coming. Senior White House advisor, Clinton administration.[60][61] 2018 Spur Award Winner, Historical Novel.[62]
^"Santa Clara Valley Water District: Calero Dam and Reservoir". Archived fromthe original on June 20, 2017. RetrievedJuly 3, 2017.Calero Reservoir provides water directly to drinking water treatment plants, which treat and test it for safety. The district then distributes the water to water retailers to sell to the county's 1.8 million residents. Calero also captures and stores winter runoff to recharge groundwater basins, helps store water from the nearbyAlmaden Reservoir watershed and accepts imported water.
^Lipton, Michael A. (January 11, 1993)."This Guy Must Be Serious".people.com.Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. RetrievedOctober 15, 2021.
^Knight, Dennis (November 4, 2004)."Pregame Ceremony to Honor Local Hero".San Jose Mercury News.Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. RetrievedNovember 8, 2007.When Pat Tillman was a freshman at Leland High School, he didn't make the varsity baseball team, despite being one of the best players his age in the South Bay.
^"Reggie Smith".Basketball-Reference.com.Archived from the original on June 15, 2015. RetrievedJune 17, 2015.
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