The ghost town of New Idria, California, a site of mercury mining during the 19th-century California Gold Rush, was named after Idrija.
In 2011, New Idria was re-listed as a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund site, owing to unchecked mercury run-off and contamination.
Camissonia benitensis was discovered by Peter H. Raven on a serpentine stream terrace adajcent to Clear Creek (New Idria serpentine mass; Bureau of Land Management Clear Creek Management Area) in 1960 and scientifically described by him in 1969.