Several years into exploring we surprisingly enough had never heard of New Idria. After binge watching Wonder Hussy’s YouTube Channel we realized the site was no secret and that there is a lot of info on the inter-web regarding New Idria. Thanks Wonder Hussy! On a cloudy grey November California day we amassed a contingency of 4 jeeps and set our GPS for New Idria.
Thanks Wonder Hussy!
For our visit we started at New Idria Road and explored the few homes there along the creek. We drove past the mill and explored the main strip along Clear Creek Road where we saw the mountains of ranch dressing and Windex along with stacks of couches, appliances, mattresses and more. Quite a bizarre seen we dont think we will see again. After that we took the jeeps up the steep hills behind the town in search of open adits. We found a few adits along the way but all had an overpowering stench of sulfur so we passed on penetration. We climbed to the reservoir and then followed San Carlos Creek back down towards town hoping to re-enter the town only to find a bucket loader had created an impassible ditch blocking our way back into town so we had to climb back up the hill and down again the way we came costing us precious daylight. We didn’t return to explore the mill until twilight. We ran out of time to explore the main adit, tailing pile, containment pond and the southern half of town. Maybe we will return someday.
Mercury mining began in New Idria in 1854…
Mercury mining began in New Idria in 1854 after the discovery of huge mercury bearing cinnabar deposits. In fact tons of the red ore can still be found scattered about the area. The large quantities of mercury used for gold recovery during the gold rush made New Idria one of the countries most productive mines. By the 1860s a school and post office was established to serve over 300 miners. In 1939 the New Idria Mine became a Historical Landmark as one of the most famous quicksilver mines in the world. The mine was featured in this 1955 film about mercury production. Layoffs in 1971 lead to closure of the mine in 1972 and the town was abandoned
Decades passed until the 1990s when the EPA considered New Idria for their priority list but it didn’t make the list until years later in 2011 when the town and mine made the Superfund Site list. The EPA fenced the mill, tailings pile and much of the town in 2012. They also created a containment pond and sealed the main adit. They installed piping and culverts that allow fresh waters to bypass contaminated areas and continue downstream into San Carlos Creek which theoretically with enough torrential rain could reach the extremely distant San Joaquin River and flow into San Francisco Bay. Trace amounts of dimethyl-mercury have been formed in the containment pond as result of mercury mixing with the AMD produced by the mine. Dimethyl-mercury is a lethal neurotoxin so deadly that 2 drops spilled on the rubber gloves on chemist Karen Wetterhahn killed her months later.
…later died mysteriously in a car crash…
Environmentalist, author and mariachi musician Kate Woods become know for her love of the town and did many interviews over the years and eventually wrote a book called the Quicksilver Chronicles. She lived nearby for many years. She was very vocal against big oil fracking in the area and later died mysteriously in a car crash near the town.
