Industry
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The Buena Vista shaft commenced on July 5, 1882. It became the deepest sunk into the Quicksilver Mining Company’s lands, eventually reaching a depth of 2,300 feet, 600 below sea level. Though not itself a significant source of ore, the Buena Vista’s value was in pumping water out of neighboring flooded mine tunnels, thus allowing miners to follow veins of cinnabar ore deeper into the earth. Considered a masterpiece of masonry, the Buena Vista’s pumphouse foundation was constructed using sandstone from New Almaden and immense blocks of granite from the Sierras. Abandoned in 1893, these foundations are all that remain of the Buena Vista today.
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