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totensiebush
Location: Berkeley, CA Gender: Male Total Likes: 11 likes
neophyte
| | | Sonoma County mercury mine < on 1/18/2019 5:43 PM > | Reply with Quote
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| blackhawk This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
Location: Mission Control Total Likes: 3996 likes
UER newbie
| | | | Re: Sonoma County mercury mine < Reply # 4 on 1/24/2019 2:52 PM > | Reply with Quote
| | | Posted by totensiebush not a big surprise but apparently it's deteriorating at a decent rate. street view from 2013 shows it significantly more intact: https://i.imgur.com/BWtNyFX.png I also realized the photo I posted was from a previous trip, late 2017, rather than last weekend. oops. I don't see any huge differences from then. https://i.imgur.com/D9kKZsC.jpg maybe sometime I'll go back and poke around inside, but it's a LONG way from anything so if anything happened it wouldn't be good. I'm not sure who owns it, likely a power company - there's certainly a lot of land on that road owned by various power companies.
| Do it. This is a rare and unique site. Be careful as hell; trust -nothing- Eyes open on the ground for hellholes including vents for the mine. This is probably the most intact mercury distillery stateside. Magnificent. The one I was on used 36 inch glazed terracotta pipes, T's and elbows but was in complete ruins.
| Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in. |
| totensiebush
Location: Berkeley, CA Gender: Male Total Likes: 11 likes
neophyte
| | | Re: Sonoma County mercury mine < Reply # 9 on 1/27/2019 2:45 AM > | Reply with Quote
| | | Posted by SirTopRamen What’re the chances of this place having any intact tunnels that you could actually get into?
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No clue. I don't even know if the mining here was tunnels or pit/strip. There's some evidence of pits in the area, but it doesn't look like enough given the extent of facilities... but maybe it's just overgrown. A mercury mine site I've been to in SLO county has tunnels that access has varied on: when it was a superfund site it got sealed up with foam, people burned it out, they collapsed the entrances, people went in the open top that can't reasonably be filled, etc. So there's a decent chance they've tried to stop access if there's anything there. Access to the buildings on the other side of the creek isn't going to be safe as far as the law goes: there's a locked gate and then a walk of a little over half a mile. There's nowhere to park a vehicle without anyone who drives past immediately noticing - this is seriously in the middle of nowhere, on a one lane road with some gravel sections, 10 miles from the nearest town. Given that street view has driven past I'm not too worried about posting hints, but don't want to make the location itself public. I think the remoteness is a major part of why this is as intact as it is, as it isn't *that* far from big cities (google says you could get there in an hour). Blackhawk, from what I've read there was mining going on there until the 70s.
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| totensiebush
Location: Berkeley, CA Gender: Male Total Likes: 11 likes
neophyte
| | | Re: Sonoma County mercury mine < Reply # 17 on 1/31/2019 4:01 PM > | Reply with Quote
| | | Yeah, the bridge was originally built around 1880, most likely in Texas (well, manufactured in PA, originally used in TX). In 1909 or so, it was moved to Monte Rio. In the late 30s, it was moved to it's current location. There are 2 other very similar bridges from the same project still in use in the area: Haupt Creek (on Skaggs Springs-Stewarts Point Road) and Gualala. The other two are more original: they retain the cast portal bracing, rather than the fabricated bracing on this one. I'd be interested in looking at the more hidden site as well, could you PM me a location? There's also the old town site, with the name on it, but it appeared people were living there so I didn't go in. There's another couple current residences on the road as well. Looking on google maps I see various locations where it's obvious there is/was something (some more is, some more was), but I have no idea whether most of them are old enough to be mining or if they're from the power company. There are also several places on the road where it's clear there used to be bridges, and the foundations are still there, but they moved the road and no longer used them. There's a LOT of history in the area.
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| blackhawk This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
Location: Mission Control Total Likes: 3996 likes
UER newbie
| | | | Re: Sonoma County mercury mine < Reply # 18 on 1/31/2019 4:26 PM > | Reply with Quote
| | | Posted by totensiebush Yeah, the bridge was originally built around 1880, most likely in Texas (well, manufactured in PA, originally used in TX). In 1909 or so, it was moved to Monte Rio. In the late 30s, it was moved to it's current location. There are 2 other very similar bridges from the same project still in use in the area: Haupt Creek (on Skaggs Springs-Stewarts Point Road) and Gualala. The other two are more original: they retain the cast portal bracing, rather than the fabricated bracing on this one. I'd be interested in looking at the more hidden site as well, could you PM me a location? There's also the old town site, with the name on it, but it appeared people were living there so I didn't go in. There's another couple current residences on the road as well. Looking on google maps I see various locations where it's obvious there is/was something (some more is, some more was), but I have no idea whether most of them are old enough to be mining or if they're from the power company. There are also several places on the road where it's clear there used to be bridges, and the foundations are still there, but they moved the road and no longer used them. There's a LOT of history in the area.
| Is that a Phoenixville Steel bridge? They were a prefab "kit" bridge with a long lifespan.
| Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in. |
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