Mike Boulland and Art Boudrealt are preparing Images of America, New Almaden, a book of photographs that illustrate the historical and cultural changes in the New Almaden community during the last century.

The book, published as part of the "Images of America" history series, is scheduled to be released this fall, perhaps in time for the area's annual Pioneer Day festivities, according to Boulland and Boudrealt.

"We hope this kind of book will attract a different audience than the older books," said Boudrealt, a volunteer at the New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum. "The others are for more serious researchers; this one is a light read, like a photo album, that people could be proud to put on their coffee table."

Of the books that mention the New Almaden mines, three concentrate soley on the mines. Two are available for sale at the museum. The third, published in 1887, is now out of print.

The oldest book, Views of New Almaden, is a book of photos, much like the one Boudrealt and Boulland, a New Almaden resident, are putting together.

Boulland said the two had been talking about writing a book about New Almaden for the past few years, when they met author Robert Burrill last October during Pioneer Day. Burrill was selling his book about the history of Milpitas, published as part of the "Images of America" series. He put Boulland and Boudrealt in touch with the series publisher, Arcadia Publishing.

Hannah Claiborne, acquisitions editor for Arcadia, said she was interested in publishing a book about New Almaden because she finds the area's history fascinating. The former mining town on the outskirts of San Jose once supplied mercury used in gold and silver mines in the Sierra Nevada to extract the metal from the ore from as early as California's Gold Rush era. The area's hills still have tunnels that run for thousands of feet below the surface. Some of the buildings from the mining days are still standing.

"Unless you live around there in San Jose, you probably don't know about it," Claiborne said. "It's a little pocket of history in there, and that is what we seek out."

As part of the "Images of America" series, the book has a distinct, photo-driven style. There are more than 200 photos, each with 70-word captions that explain their significance.

Other books in the series include histories of Santa Cruz, downtown San Jose and Los Gatos, which Claiborne said was the second bestseller of the series in 2004.

Boudrealt and Boulland agreed that choosing the best 200 photos from among the thousands at the museum was a tough task that put the museum's archive database to the test.

Boulland said he has enjoyed finding photographs that support the stories he has heard about the mining days.

"We're validating the storytelling," he said. "The information that comes up is accurate and backed up by several sources."

Many of the images they have used were photographs taken in the late 1800s when the magnesium flash was invented.

While both Boudrealt and Boulland have extensive knowledge of the New Almaden community, they said they have received a lot of support from community members who are excited about the project.

Boulland said interviewing community members who have lived in New Almaden for decades has been his favorite part of writing the book.