- Almaden Valley, San Jose, California
Almaden Valley (often just called Almaden) is a
neighborhood of about 37,000 in the southwestern portion ofSan Jose, California , USA, roughly equivalent to the 95120ZIP Code . [ [http://www.myalmaden.com/html/main/front/index.html MyAlmaden Website] ] [ [http://www.avca-sj.org/ Almaden Valley Community Association (AVCA) Website] ] The neighborhood is south east of the town ofLos Gatos , west of the Santa Teresa neighborhood of San Jose and south of Coleman Ave. at the southern end of the Blossom Hill neighborhood of San Jose. It is named after theNew Almaden Mines , which were named after the mercury mine in (old)Almadén ,Spain . [ [http://www.avca-sj.org/almaden.html AVCA About Almaden Valley] ] The informal borders are generally Coleman Rd. at the northern end, McKean Rd. at the southern end, where the valley becomes mostly rural, and the town of Los Gatos to the west. The valley is located between a small series of hills and theSanta Cruz Mountains , withMount Umunhum to the west dominating the local geography.Like its Spanish namesake, California's Almaden had a number of quicksilver mines. The mercury was used during
gold extraction in theCalifornia Gold Rush , but the mines were closed in 1975 and have been converted intoAlmaden Quicksilver County Park . Despite the closure of the mines, there still remains a high mercury content in the nearby soil, creeks and rivers, and signs are posted alongside them warning people not to eat the fish. Even still, many of the names in Almaden still retain their mercury mine themes. For example, there are streets called Silver Lode Lane and Silver Mine Drive (the latter of which was renamed). Also, many places in Almaden still use the name Quicksilver.As part of the
Silicon Valley , the main industry in the neighborhood is now high technology research and development;IBM Almaden Research Center is located there. [ [http://www.almaden.ibm.com/almaden/ IBM Almaden Research Center] ] The neighborhood is primarily upper class, with homes owned by local professionals, scientists, athletes, and Silicon Valley executives. [ [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=Search&geo_id=&_geoContext=&_street=&_county=95120&_cityTown=95120&_state=&_zip=95120&_lang=en&_sse=on&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010&show_2003_tab=&redirect=Y Census Data for 95120] ]chools
Schools in the area include: [ [http://www.myalmaden.com/html/main/org/org_catID/1/index.html MyAlmaden List Of Schools] ] [ [http://www.avca-sj.org/School.html AVCA List Of Schools] ]
High Schools
* Leland High School
* Pioneer High School
* Gunderson High School
* Lincoln High SchoolMiddle Schools
* Bret Harte Middle School
* Castillero Middle School
* Challenger SchoolElementary Schools
* Los Alamitos Elementary School
* Guadalupe Elementary School
* Simonds Elementary School
* Graystone Elementary School
* Williams Elementary School
* Challenger School
* Holy Spirit SchoolRecreation
One of the key attractions of the Almaden Valley is the abundance of public recreational sites.
* Lake Almaden
* Almaden Quicksilver County Park
* Calero Dam and ReservoirReferences
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