The Best Museums in San Jose, California

Another side of the California Gold Rush is explored here. The spotlight is shone on the local area’s history of cinnabar mining, an ore from which mercury (or quicksilver) can be extracted, an element prized in its day for its use in processing silver. Found in an 1854 mansion that was used as the official residence of the mine superintendents, the museum features exhibits of mining equipment, a diorama of a mine shaft, period displays, and information on the miners from Cornwall, China, and Mexico who came to the region to work in the mines.