Englishtown, California
Posted by: 
DougK
N 37° 10.733 W 121° 50.390
10S E 602986 N 4115346
Englishtown, California was abandoned in 1912.
Waymark Code: WM7D2V
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 10/07/2009
Views: 17
Englishtown or English Camp was a mining community that at one time was home to as many as 1,000 men, women and children. English Camp was formed in the early 1860's by a group of hearty hard-rock miners who had immigrated from Cornwell, England. It was a rough life in rugged terrain for these "Cousin Jacks", yet mining families were bound by a strong sense of community.
English Camp had a Methodist Church, Company Store, Mine Office, School House, Centennial Hall, Helping Hand Hall and a multitude of family cabins. As quicksilver production declined at New Almaden in the early 1900s the majority of miners left this area and vacant buildings fell into disrepair. Englishtown residents abandoned their homes and businesses after the bankruptcy of the New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Company in 1912. Many were later pulled down by the Army Corps of Engineers or used as training ground for the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
Remnants of Englishtown that are still visible are the church, a collapsed schoolhouse, a
barn and a
chimney from an old cabin.
Englishtown is located in Alamden QuickSilver Park and can be accessed by taking the Mine Hill Road trail from the Hacienda entrance of the park. This trail is open to pedestrians, bicycles and equestrians.