An Arabian town in the Santa Clara Valley? Well, not quite! Although many know our local New Almaden Historic District and County Park take their names from the Almaden mercury mines in Spain, few people realize that the Romans were the first to develop those mines. The mines in Spain were renamed by the Eighth Century Islamic conquerors of Spain and called "Al Madan" (The Mine). The name survived for well over a thousand years and was reused when mercury was discovered in California.
Les Amis de Sourisseau March 2018 video. Written by Charlotte Sunseri and produced by Sourisseau Academy for State and Local History, San José State University.
