Rotary Kiln in Mercury Smelter (New Idria)

◀ swipe or tap left / right ▶

◀ use left / right keys ▶

Rotary Kiln in Mercury Smelter (New Idria)

License this photo
or buy print

Download JPG image

cinnabar smelter girth gear mercury pollution rotary furnace rotary kiln rusty trespassing

Mercury Smelter - rotary kiln - rusted - New Idria

For more information about rotary kilns, go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_kiln

New Idria is a ghost town located in a remote area of the Coast Range of California (USA), outside the town of Hollister. It was once a center for mercury (quick silver) and asbestos mining. New Idria was at its peak well before the Gold Rush in California of the 1840's and 1860's. There are still high levels of mercury and asbestos polution in the area.

If you don't mind ignoring all the "no trespassing" signs, you can visit an amazing mercury smelter with four large "Gould" rotary furnances. This smelter was abandoned in the 1970's. All those photos were taken in May 2004.

Go to my New Idria photos for more photos and information about this place.

Date & GPS location

Photo taken on April 25, 2004

Clear Creek Rd, Paicines, CA 95043, USA

GPS coordinates: 36.415900,-120.673500 - Download KML file for Google Earth (and other mapping apps)

▼ Display maps with photo location

i emailed a couple of pics from another website to my mom, and she had a total twighlight experience over the phone!! ha ha my grandpa was a coal miner there in the 70's and my mom and her fam grew up there, she recognized everything from the pics! awesome site!