History of Dahlonega, Georgia

Dahlonega, Georgia was the first gold Rush in the Nation. Dahlonega was a boom town in the Georgia Gold Rush and became the site of a United States Mint branch mint between 1838 and 1861, when the facility was turned over to the Confederate Treasury Department and operations continued until June 1, 1861. Numerous gold mines were scattered around the area, a major reason the Cherokee people were forced to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears. The city's name since 1833 comes from the Cherokee-language word "Talonige" or "Dalonige", meaning "yellow money" or "gold." The city is just east of Auraria, and each city claims to be the authentic site of the first discovery of gold. Senator John Calhoun of South Carolina (7th Vice President of the United States) also owned the Calhoun Mine, just south of the City Square.

The Dahlonega Mint, like the one established in 1838 in Charlotte, North Carolina, only minted gold coins, in denominations of $1.00, $2.50 (quarter eagle), $3.00 (1854 only) and $5.00 (half eagle). The Dahlonega Mint was a small operation, usually accounting for only a small fraction of the gold coinage minted annually, and it was deemed unnecessary to reestablish the facility after the Civil War. As a result, surviving Dahlonega coinage is today highly prized in American numismatics. The mint building burned in 1878 - but the North Georgia College campus built Price Memorial Hall on its foundation. The building is clearly identifiable by the gold leaf steeple. In recent years, Dahlonega and Lumpkin County have been recognized as "the heart of Georgia Wine Country." The county features three vineyards and wineries that are attracting many tourists. Dahlonega's local festivals also draw many tourists. Bear on the Square, which marks the day that a black bear wondered onto the square, is a large arts and crafts festival. Larger than that, Gold Rush Days attract over 200,000 people for the two day event.

Dahlonega, the county seat of Lumpkin County, lies about sixty-five miles north of Atlanta in the Blue Ridge province. The town is closely associated with Georgia's gold history; its name derives from a Cherokee word referring to the yellow color of gold.

The Dahlonega area was part of the Cherokee Nation when European settlers first arrived. After the 1828-29 discovery of gold, thousands of miners—known as "Twenty-Niners"—poured into the area, and the Georgia gold rush began. Beginning in 1832, Cherokee territory in Lumpkin County, as well as in several other counties in north Georgia, was sold by the state to Georgia residents through a land lottery. A separate lottery was held in 1832 to distribute forty-acre "gold districts" for $10 each in the same Cherokee area. The discovery of gold was one of the major reasons behind Cherokee Removal, in which the state of Georgia expelled Cherokees from their ancestral lands in 1838.

Formally established in 1833, Dahlonega replaced Auraria as the Lumpkin County seat. The boomtown served the miners' needs but was initially rough and lawless. Miners were a diverse lot, hailing from around the nation and from Europe. Some were slaves (as at Calhoun Mine), but there were also free blacks, including "Free Jim" Bosclair, who achieved great wealth as a miner and merchant. A few miners were women, and some were farmers supplementing their incomes with gold.

So much gold was extracted that the U.S. Congress chartered a Branch Mint at Dahlonega in 1835, which produced $6 million worth of gold coins before closing in 1861. Mint assayer Matthew Stephenson's famous speech asked miners to stay in Georgia: "Why go to California? In that ridge lies more gold than man ever dreamt of. There's millions in it!" The miners went to California anyway, where they conveyed his colorful expression to writer Mark Twain, who adopted it for his literary character Mulberry Sellers in The American Claimant (1892).

By the mid-nineteenth century, Dahlonega faced difficulties with lowered gold production and disruptions during the Civil War (1861-65). During the war, nine military companies were organized at the Dahlonega Mustering Grounds. The Confederate government seized the mint but made little use of it, and it never reopened. In 1871 the former mint facility became North Georgia Agricultural College (later North Georgia College and State University), thanks to the efforts of U.S. congressman William Pierce Price. When the old mint building burned in 1878, a new administration building was erected on the old foundations, and the school continued to grow.

At the end of the nineteenth century, Dahlonega experienced a new wave of gold interest, and the population reached 1,255 by 1900. Several companies set up new facilities, including the Dahlonega Consolidated Gold Mining Company, the largest gold-processing plant east of the Mississippi River, with a four-story mill and 120 stamps. But by 1906 most of the new plants had closed, at a great loss to their investors. The population dropped to just 690 by 1920.

Dahlonega suffered the effects of the Great Depression, but the population began to rebound, climbing above 1,000 again during the 1930s, above 2,000 during the 1940s, and to 3,638 residents by 2000. Efforts to attract tourism and other business during the 1950s produced a more diverse economy. In 1958 Dahlonegans proudly transported local gold by mule-drawn wagon train to Atlanta for installation on the state capitol dome.

Gold-related tourism has proved very successful. Visitors to Dahlonega experience its gold history and enjoy festivals, accommodations, dining, and shopping. The original 1836 Lumpkin County Courthouse has been restored and now houses the Dahlonega Gold Museum. The Crisson Mine and reopened Dahlonega Consolidated Mine offer tours and gold panning. Dahlonega also benefits from extensive tourism related to the natural features of its beautiful mountain setting.

One of the largest local employers, North Georgia College and State University, with a student body of about 4,500, plays a major role in the Dahlonega community.

Agriculture has always been an important economic activity in Dahlonega. The poultry industry, introduced locally in the 1940s, dominates today, but there are also strong beef cattle, wine-making, and greenhouse industries. Transportation improvements were also important. Despite nineteenth-century attempts to bring the railroad to Dahlonega from Gainesville, tracks never reached the city. Road access to the remote mountainous location was historically difficult, but the completion of Georgia 400 by the 1990s improved access to Atlanta.

With enhanced access to Atlanta's growing metropolis, and an ongoing interest in its own gold heritage, Dahlonega's future growth seems assured.

Courtesy Georgia Humanities Council

This area was occupied by indigenous peoples for thousands of years before European contact. When European American settlers arrived, it was the traditional territory of the historical Cherokee nation.

Gold Rush

In 1828, Dahlonega became the site of the first major gold rush in the USA and became a boomtown in the Georgia Gold Rush.

Native Americans

Dahlonega was home to many Creeks and Cherokees and still is today. There are a few Creek and Cherokee descendants in Dahlonega today, though they are not in communities but scattered throughout Dahlonega. Most of the descendants are Creek-Cherokee mixed. Names like Corn, Davis, and Bird and the Chambers Families were of Cherokee blood. Surnames like Limley and Cagle were of Creek and Seminole blood. Though not part of state or federal recognition they still practice their traditions as Cherokee and Creek people. The word Dahlonega originally spelled Da-lo-ni-ge-i means Yellow.

Illegal Mining

Numerous gold mines were illegally developed in the area. Miners, entering illegally into the Cherokee Nation lands, came into conflict with the Cherokee, whose territory they were trespassing on. The Cherokee lands were defined by the treaty between the Federal Government and the Cherokee Nation in The Treaty of Washington 1819. The miners raised political pressure against the Cherokee because they wanted to get the gold. The Federal Government forced the Native Americans west of the Mississippi River to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears during Indian Removal. Dahlonega was founded two years before the Treaty of New Echota 1835, which made its founding a violation of The Treaty of Washington of 1819.

Naming the City

Cherokee for Da-lo-ni-ge English phonetics: dah low knee gay.

In 1833 the city was named Talonega by the Georgia General Assembly on 21 December 1833. The name was changed from Talonega by the Georgia General Assembly on 25 December 1837 to Dahlonega, from the Cherokee-language word Dalonige, meaning "yellow" or "gold." The city is just east of Auraria; each claims to be the site of the first discovery of gold. Senator John Calhoun of South Carolina (7th Vice President of the United States) owned the Calhoun Mine, just south of the City Square.

Coin Minting

The United States Mint built a branch mint here, which it operated from 1838–1861. The Confederate Treasury Department took over the facility after the declaration of secession and operated it until 1 June 1861.

The Dahlonega Mint, like the one established in 1838 in Charlotte, North Carolina, only minted gold coins, in denominations of $1.00, $2.50 (quarter eagle), $3.00 (1854 only) and $5.00 (half eagle). This was cost effective in consideration of the economics, time, and risk of shipping gold to the main mint in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Dahlonega Mint was a small operation, usually accounting for only a small fraction of the gold coinage minted annually in the US.

The government decided against re-opening the facility after the Civil War. By then, the U.S. government had established a mint in San Francisco, California. Given the large amount of gold discovered in California from the late 1840s on, that mint handled the national needs of gold mint production.

As a result, surviving Dahlonega coinage is today highly prized in American numismatics. The mint building burned in 1878. The North Georgia College campus built Price Memorial Hall on its foundation. The building has a gold-leaf steeple to refer to the history of the site.

Wine and Tourism

In recent years, Dahlonega and Lumpkin County have been recognized as "the heart of Georgia Wine Country." The county features five vineyards and wineries that attract many tourists. The historic Dahlonega Square is also a popular tourist destination, with gift shops, restaurants, art galleries and artists' studios. The city's local festivals draw many tourists. "Bear on the Square", an annual three-day festival held the third weekend in April, marks the day that a black bear wandered onto the square. It features bluegrass and old-time music. It celebrates the culture of the Southern Appalachians with a juried artists' market and other activities. "Gold Rush Days", an annual two-day event the third weekend in October, attracts over 200,000 people.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
BRANCH MINT AT DAHLONEGA, GEORGIA
By Carl N. Lester, Numismatist

PREFACE

A combination of the discovery of gold in the southeastern United States in the early nineteenth century and the subsequent political machinations resulting from this newfound wealth led to the establishment of United States Branch Mints at Dahlonega, Georgia and Charlotte, North Carolina. Officially mandated to coin "gold only" by a Congressional Act in 1835, the two branch mints soon opened for business, producing their first gold coinage in 1838. These two facilities, long considered to be "sister mints" by numismatists, indeed had a parallel history. Today, their most tangible legacies, the gold coins themselves, are among the most avidly collected in all of American numismatics.

This numismatic loyalty stems from the fact that these southern "gold mints" operated during America's first gold rush, were in existence for only a short period (24 calendar years), produced relatively low-mintage gold coins with very distinctive characteristics, and had as a backdrop to their demise the most turbulent conflict in American History, the Civil War. In numismatic terms, what could be more romantic?

Dahlonega and Charlotte coins often have a green-gold cast, due to the alloy's high silver content, and are typically weakly struck on irregular planchets. As unappealing as this may sound to the uninitiated, to Dahlonega and Charlotte aficionados these traits give the coins charm and character.

THE UNITED STATES BRANCH MINT AT DAHLONEGA, GEORGIA

Although gold was found all the way from Virginia to Alabama, a particularly rich belt was discovered on Cherokee Indian land in Georgia, near what was to become Dahlonega, in 1828, causing a huge influx of miners. First the frontier town of Auraria sprang up around the mines, and then nearby Dahlonega (from the Cherokee language, meaning "yellow money") edged her out as the newly-formed Lumpkin County seat. Although several private coiners, including Templeton Reid and the Bechtlers, had attempted to alleviate the problem of converting the raw gold to a more readily accepted medium, there was considerable political pressure for a universally accepted Federal coinage.

A Congressional appropriation of $50,000 was made for the construction and outfitting of the Dahlonega Mint. The plans were copies of those drawn for the Charlotte Mint by William Strickland, a noted architect of the day. The mint was to be a two-story, stucco-covered brick structure, having a basement constructed of "hammer-dressed" stone. The front of the "T"-shaped facility was to be 125 feet across and 33.5 feet deep, although recent measurements indicate that the front was actually constructed to a length of 127.5 feet. A projection extending to the rear from the center of the front portion of the building was to be 53 feet deep and 36 feet wide.

The Commissioner of construction was Ignatius Few, a lawyer and Methodist preacher, who unfortunately seemed to have only a passing interest in attending to his duties. A site was chosen on a hill in full view of the town square and a contract for construction was let in September 1835. Dahlonega's remote location and Commissioner Few's lack of aggressive oversight were significant contributors to the ensuing construction difficulties. There were approximately 15,000 miners in and around Dahlonega at the height of the gold rush. Dahlonega experienced a scarcity of goods, building supplies, and reliable labor. It is no wonder, therefore, when Franklin Peale, upon arriving in Dahlonega in November 1837, to inspect the Dahlonega Mint structure on behalf of the Philadelphia Mint, found the quality of workmanship to be abysmal. He related in correspondence to the parent institution that the Dahlonega workmen "certainly deserve diplomas for Botching." Although the workmanship was suspect, Peale ultimately recommended acceptance of the building.

The Dahlonega Mint was supplied with state-of-the-art coining equipment, including two of the "small version" steam-driven, toggle joint presses, a design that was first used to strike coins at the Philadelphia Mint in 1836. Power was supplied from steam produced in a boiler and which was transmitted to a steam engine, both located in the basement, in the stem of the "T." A series of belts and pulleys transmitted the power to the presses, which were located on the first floor, just above the engine room. The presses were designed to produce approximately one coin per second. The small size of the presses limited coin production to the half eagle and smaller denominations.

Superintendent Joseph Singleton oversaw the striking of the mint's first coinage, 80 half eagles ($5 gold), on April 21, 1838, remarking that the coins were beautiful, accurate, and had "a most cordial reception wherever carried." The first coinage of the quarter eagle ($2½ gold) denomination did not occur until the following February.

Depositors would present the gold at the counter of the Superintendent-Treasurer and were issued a receipt. In addition to dust and nuggets, deposits were in other forms, such as bars and foreign gold coins. The deposit was then melted and assayed in order to establish the fineness and thus the corresponding value. Because most Georgia gold was more pure than the standard of fineness (.900), the normal practice was to leave in the naturally occurring silver, rather than parting the silver from the gold, prior to adjusting the fineness downward to .900. The gold was then coined and depositors returned to pick up their newly minted Dahlonega gold pieces.

The Dahlonega Mint positions were very political, with changes often being made upon a shift in a political party's power in Washington, a situation that caused much internal conflict among the mint personnel. In April 1841, Paul Rossignol, who was viewed as a "foreigner" by the citizens of Dahlonega, replaced Singleton as Superintendent, upon the election of Whig President William Henry Harrison. In June 1843, James Cooper replaced Rossignol. Superintendent Cooper, who was a West Point graduate, had the most smoothly operating tenure in the mint's history. Increasing gold deposits, harmony among the mint personnel, and good relations with the citizens of Dahlonega marked this period. He also presided over the first production of the diminutive gold dollar in July 1849. In October 1849, Anderson Redding became the new Superintendent, a fallout of the election of Whig President Zachary Taylor the year before.

The bulk of the Georgia gold deposits at the Dahlonega Mint occurred in the 1840s, although the facility also received deposits from a number of surrounding states. The mint had a significant amount of California deposits following the discovery of gold that state in 1848 (about 20% of the facility's lifetime deposits). Much of this gold was brought to the mint by miners who had worked the Dahlonega mines prior to trying their luck in California. These deposits breathed new life into the flagging mint. Unfortunately, the California deposits dwindled after 1854, when the San Francisco Branch Mint, which was much more convenient to the California gold fields, was opened.

Julius Patton became Superintendent in July 1853, having been appointed by newly elected Democrat President Franklin Pierce. The following year, the Dahlonega Mint had its only three dollar gold production. Much to the chagrin of its employees, with the declining gold deposits of the late 1850s, the viability of the Dahlonega Mint was more and more in question.

George Kellogg replaced Patton as Superintendent in October 1860. The State of Georgia seceded from the Union in January 1861. The mint produced 1,597 half eagles in February 1861, with the coinage being reported to the Philadelphia Mint. After Superintendent Kellogg tendered his resignation to President Lincoln in April, the Dahlonega Mint produced an estimated 1,600-1,700 half eagles and 2,750-3,250 gold dollars dated 1861, neither of which was reported to Philadelphia. The additional coinage was made, not by "Rebel forces," but by the same personnel who had executed the February strikings, albeit with a new allegiance. The Dahlonega Mint was officially closed by order of the Confederate Congress on June 1, 1861 and never reopened as a U. S. Branch Mint.

During its 24 calendar years of operation, the Dahlonega Mint produced just under 1.4 million gold coins, with a face value of over 6.1 million dollars. The facility struck half eagles for each year of operation (24 issues). Quarter eagles were made continuously from 1839-1859, with the exception of 1858, for a total of 20 different dates. Gold dollars were produced every year from 1849-1861, which constitutes 13 issues. The lone emission of the $3 gold piece occurred in 1854. Thus, a complete date set of Dahlonega gold coins consists of 58 pieces, although significant die varieties can push that number well above 60.

The former Dahlonega Mint building served as an Assay Office and repository for the Confederate Treasury during the Civil War. Eventually the facility was donated to the State of Georgia for educational purposes, becoming the main building of North Georgia Agricultural College in 1873. Unfortunately, the historic structure burned to its granite foundation in December 1878. A new college building was constructed on the original foundation and exists today as Price Memorial Hall of North Georgia College & State University.

Completing a set of Dahlonega gold coins, although an extremely difficult task, can still be assembled given patience and financial ability. Regardless of denomination, any high grade Dahlonega gold coin with a good strike and excellent eye appeal is a real treasure and based on past history has been a blue chip coin investment.

The above is an excerpt from Mr. Lester's "A Brief History of the United States Branch Mints at Dahlonega, Georgia and Charlotte, North Carolina," that was published in Heritage Numismatic Auctions' catalog of the renowned North Georgia Collection, part of their FUN 1999 Sale. Hancock and Harwell carefully assembled the North Georgia Collection, famous for its superb originality and eye appeal, over a long period.

North Georgia's Gold Rush, America's First

North Georgia's Gold Rush Few words in the English language create the fervor that the cry of "Gold" does in man. A driving force in the colonization of America, gold was the primary reason for Hernando De Soto to visit the North Georgia region in the early 1540's. Indians along the Chattahoochee River north of Atlanta routinely panned for gold and found significant amounts of the material. Spanish miners joined them and formed minor settlements that operated almost continuously until the early 1700's.

Much has been written as to who discovered gold in Georgia and when. Mines operated illegally in Cherokee Territory for years, but the first contemporary reference to a gold mining operation in the state points to present-day White County (then Habersham County) in 1829. By then at least two mines had been constructed in the Nacoochee Valley and there are indications are they were in operation in late 1828. Most modern historians and the state of Georgia discount the story of Benjamin Parks discovering gold at Licklog (Dahlonega).

After the Spanish were forced from Georgia, interest in gold died for a number of years, but mining continued off and on throughout 18th century and into the 19th century. As early as 1819 there is evidence that gold was being mined by whites near the Cherokee town of Sixes. Although people knew of the gold, Frank Logan "discovered" it in White County in 1828. Benjamin Parks is frequently credited with the discovery in Lumpkin County mostly because that's what he told anybody who would listen to him for almost 70 years. By 1829 mining operations had begun in White County (then part of Habersham County). Later that same year operations began in Lumpkin, Union, and Cherokee. This promise of easy money literally floating down a river brought large amounts of men and money into the region. It also caused much pain.

The Cherokee controlled most of the land in the gold region. The Georgia legislature began to plan their removal almost immediately after the discovery of gold. This eventually led to the "Trail of Tears." John C. Calhoun's hotel in Auraria.

By 1830 more than 300 ounces a day were being produced in the area from north of Blairsville to the southeast corner of what is now Cherokee County. The center of gold production shifted to Auraria (Latin for "City of Gold"), just south of Dahlonega (Licklog). It became a boomtown overnight and quickly had a major road, newspaper, post office and hotel owned by John C. Calhoun, then Vice-President of the United States. There was so much gold being produced in the region that the Federal government completed a mint in Dahlonega in 1838, however by that time production had begun to decrease. The rush continued until 1849, when word of gold in California reached Georgia and many of the miners left. By 1858, most of the gold mining had ceased. That year, hydraulic mining was introduced to the state. Production of gold reached a low point during the Civil War, but by 1880 mining was again flourishing, thanks to hydraulic mining, which devastated the environment. Although mining continues in the area today, production has been decreasing steadily since 1915.

Some people say the streets of Atlanta are paved with gold and they are. Building materials from North Georgia frequently have measurable amounts of the metal in them. In fact, when the Mint was torn down bricks used to build it were crushed and the gold was extracted. After heavy rains the employees of water treatment plants in Atlanta have found gold nuggets. Runoff from rivers like the Chattahoochee and Peachtree Creek does contain small amounts of the metal.

In 1958 the citizens of Dahlonega presented the state with a gift of gold. The metal was pounded into thin sheets and attached to the top of the State House in Atlanta. The gold dome remains as a lasting symbol to the first of our nation's gold rushes.

The Georgia Gold Rush

It is generally accepted that the first recorded discovery of gold by the white man occurred in 1799, in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. Conrad Reed, a boy at the time, found a 17-pound nugget in a creek on his father's farm. Incredibly, the family used the huge nugget as a doorstop until 1802, when it was sold to a jeweler for $3.50. Eventually word got out about the true worth of the gold doorstop, initiating the nation's first gold rush.

The Georgia portion of the Appalachian gold belt went unappreciated until Benjamin Parks discovered gold in 1828, in the area near which the town of Dahlonega would be settled.

Actually the first gold rush town in Georgia was called Nuckollsville, later becoming Auraria (from the Latin, meaning "gold"), which was located about six miles from present day Dahlonega. The gold discovery caused a near stampede of those seeking a quick fortune. The region near Auraria lay claim to one of the richest parts of the gold belt and many miners sought their fortune there. The area was named Lumpkin County in 1832 and Dahlonega was selected as the county seat in 1833, denying Auraria her claim to the title, and initiating the decline of the state's first gold rush town. This area had been home to the Cherokee for many generations. They were later forced by the government to leave their land for reservations in Oklahoma, a journey that became known as the "Trail of Tears."

The gold rush was exacerbated by a state-sponsored lottery, which awarded forty acres of gold-bearing land, previously owned by the Cherokee, to those holding the winning draws.

Parks may have best described the chaotic scene, "The news got abroad, and such excitement you never saw. It seemed within a few days as if the whole world must have heard of it, for men came from every state I had ever heard of. They came afoot, on horseback and in wagons, acting more like crazy men than anything else. All the way from where Dahlonega now stands to Nuckollsville there were men panning out of the branches and making holes in the hillsides."

Dahlonega was aptly named, being derived from the Cherokee language, meaning "yellow money." In her earlier days known as "Licklog," Dahlonega soon became a boomtown, supporting a surrounding population of about 15,000 miners at the height of the gold rush. Symptomatic of its rapid ascension, shortages of common necessities were widespread. As might be expected in such a "rough and ready" gold mining town, there were stores, hotels, brothels, saloons, and gambling houses.

One contemporary account related, "I can hardly conceive of a more unmoral community than exists around these mines; drunkenness, gambling, fighting, lewdness, and every other vice exist here to an awful extent." "Sprawls Hotel," a tanyard in town, was an "establishment" where drunken miners were allowed to "ooze" until they were sober enough to "check out." On the other hand, one traveler thought that the Dahlonega hotels offered "comforts for the inner man...not excelled by any in the State."

Gold production increased in the decade following the gold discovery. The problem that the gold miners faced was that there was not an easy way to convert their finds (gold dust and nuggets) to a spendable medium. Raw gold could be used for payment in the local establishments near Dahlonega, but usually at a steep discount. Part of the difficulty was that the fineness of the raw gold was not easily determined. A few private coiners, including Templeton Reid, attempted to alleviate this problem, with only minimal success. Reid was a German "metal worker, cotton gin manufacturer, jeweler, watchmaker, and gunsmith" who briefly issued $2, $5, and $10 gold pieces dated 1830, initially from Milledgeville, then from Gainesville, Georgia. It was an arduous and risky task to attempt to have the raw gold coined at the Federal mint in Philadelphia, as the distance from the southern gold fields was long and uncertain. Nonetheless, the mint at Philadelphia did receive over $1.7 million in Georgia deposits from 1830-1837.

History of the Dahlonega Gold Museum

Dahlonega Gold Museum

Why go to California? In that ridge lies more gold than man ever dreamt of. There's gold in it!

Mathew Fleming Stephenson
Assayer of the Branch Mint

Introduction

The cry of "There's Gold in Them Thar Hills" (which is Mark Twain's version of what Mr. Stephenson said from the second floor porch of the Dahlonega Courthouse) still echoes through the halls of the Dahlonega Gold Museum in Dahlonega, Georgia. When the news spread that gold had been discovered in North Georgia in the Cherokee Nation, thousands of gold seekers flocked into the Georgia mountains in 1829 starting America's first major gold rush. Besides Lumpkin, White, Union, and Cherokee Counties each shared to some extent in the rush.

Building the Courthouse

Proposed in 1833, the contract for the courthouse was originally given to John Humphries, an unscrupulous con-man who received 2,000 dollars in advance for construction on a courthouse to be completed in 18 months. When the time was up the county had paid an additional 500 dollars and no work had been completed. Humphries fled town when a deputy sheriff attempted to serve him a warrant, never to be heard from again.

Ephraim Clayton, of Asheville, North Carolina finally built the edifice completing it in 1836. Using bricks cast from gold-rich Cane Creek and mortar made from the creek's mud, the building contains significant amounts of gold. The final payment for the building was made in gold bullion.

Now the Dahlonega Gold Museum, the courthouse replaced a much smaller wooden structure that stood on the same site. The new building housed a market on the first floor and the court on the second floor, but it also housed the assayer's office where the quantity and quality of the gold brought from area placers was determined. Many people who would become moving forces in Georgia over the next 5 decades spent time in or near the courthouse including William Akin, who became a lawyer in Bartow County and ended up trying the first case in before the Georgia Supreme Court, Mark Cooper, who ran for governor in 1843, and Vice President of the United States, John C. Calhoun.

Around the Courthouse

Although the number of slaves in Lumpkin County was small, on occasion a slave sale would be held on the courthouse steps. Many local Confederate units were mustered on the grounds of the Courthouse. In 1863 the building was used as a militia headquarters and prison as the militia attempted to maintain order on a large portion of the north Georgia Mountains.

The building, described after The Civil War as "half-ruined" was remodeled in 1880. The courthouse was featured in Life magazine in 1942.

Creating the Museum

By the early 1960's the courthouse was no longer large enough to meet the needs of the growing community. A new courthouse was built and when the old building was abandoned the Georgia Historical Commission was chosen to supervise a remodeling for citizens intent on preserving the historic structure. First, a massive stabilization effort helped stop the deterioration of the building.

Next the outside of the building was sandblasted to return brick to its original color. Then offices were removed to return the entrance to its original condition. When old bricks were removed Madeleine Anthony, who would become the first curator of the Gold Museum, retrieved them, hung a brass icon inscribed "Lumpkin County Courthouse, 1836" and included an assayers report showing traces of gold.

On July 1, 1967 the Dahlonega Gold Museum opened its doors.

Dahlonega Branch Mint

National politics played a major role in building a mint in the city. Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, felt that a strong central bank was a problem. Most of his second term was spent dismantling the institution. Part of the act that weakened the National Bank in 1835 also authorized The Dahlonega Mint, along with others in Charlotte and New Orleans. The branch mint opened three years later. Over the next 23 years the high quality ore from North Georgia produced six million dollars in gold. The mint, closed by the Confederate Government shortly after the start of the Civil War was donated to North Georgia Agricultural College in 1871 along with ten acres of land. Today North Georgia College's impressive Price Memorial Hall stands on the foundation of the mint.

History of the Dahlonega Mint

The Dahlonega Mint was a branch of the United States Mint. It was located at 34°31.8′N 83°59.2′W () at Dahlonega, Lumpkin County, Georgia. Coins produced at the Dahlonega Mint bear the "D" mint mark. That mint mark is used today by the Denver Mint, which opened many years after the Dahlonega Mint closed. All coins from the Dahlonega Mint are gold and bear the dates 1838-1861.

Creation

The Dahlonega Mint was chartered by the United States Congress and erected in 1837, in the mining town of Dahlonega, Georgia, during the first North American gold rush known as the Georgia Gold Rush. The purpose of the Mint was to tap the newly discovered source of gold for coins and to provide a place for miners to have their gold assayed and sold.
The Dahlonega Mint in 1877 or 1878.

Production

The first coins produced at the mint were gold $ 5.00 half eagles in April 1838. The mint produced coins every year from 1838 through 1861. Denominations produced included $ 1.00; $ 2.50 (quarter eagles); $ 3.00 (1854 only); and $ 5.00 (half eagles).
The Civil War

When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, the Dahlonega Mint was seized by the Confederates. It is believed that after the Confederates took over the mint in 1861, that some gold dollars and half eagles were minted under the authority of the Confederate States Government. The exact number of 1861 D Gold dollars produced is unknown, while approximately 1,597 1861 D half eagles were struck. Because of their relatively low mintage, all Dahlonega-minted gold coins are rare. It is generally accepted that Gold coins estimated to exceed $6 million were minted here.

Post Civil War

After the end of the Civil War, The United States Government decided against reopening the mint for its purposes. The building was unused until the founding of North Georgia College in 1873. The mint building was used as the main academic and administrative building for the college until a fire destroyed the original building in December 1878. A new building for the college was erected on the foundations of the old mint building. This building is now named Price Memorial Hall after William P. Price the founder of the college and is still used by the college today.

Gold leaf from this area also covers the exterior of the domed roof over the rotunda of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta. Local media often refer to the state legislature's activities as what's going on "under the gold dome". After the capitol building was gold leafed citizens of Dahlonega began a campaign to gold leaf Price Memorial Hall after the same fashion as the capitol.

For other United States Mint facilities, see Historical United States Mints.

Gold Dome

The gold dome of the Price Memorial building was completed in the early 1970's by a roofer named Doug Quinn, from Boston, Mass., who stayed at the local Cherokee Motel and Restaurant during construction.

A History of Lumpkin County Georgia

Early Inhabitants

Dahlonega, Georgia, a boom town when Atlanta was just a village, is 73 miles north of Atlanta in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountain range. Dahlonega is the center of the richest section of a gold bearing region extending from the Carolinas toward Alabama. The earliest evidence of humans in the area was discovered in 1990 by an archeologist, who found an early woodland period site about a mile east of town. The site could date back as far as 1,000 B.C. In 1828 the Cherokee Indians, the first known people to inhabit the country, occupied over four million North Georgia acres. The name is from the Cherokee "Ta-lo-Ne-Ga," their word for the rich yellow. "Dahlonega" is the white man's version of the Cherokee word. Dahlonega was also called "Licklog” by early settlers because it was used to leave salt licks for their cattle.

Discovery of Gold

In 1828, Benjamin Parks went deer hunting and overturned a rock laced with gold. Parks' discovery led to the first major gold rush in the U.S. and created overnight the boomtown of Auraria, with a population of 10,000 by 1832. The first known Confederate soldier wounded in the battle of Manassas, N.C. Tankersley, was from Auraria, and the Russell brothers founded the first settlement at the present site of Denver, CO and named it Auraria in honor of their hometown. But today Auraria is a ghost town with only a few buildings and a handful of people remaining. In 1832 Lumpkin County, named after then Georgia Gov. Wilson Lumpkin [1783-1870], was organized by an Act of the Georgia Legislature, being carved from Hall, Cherokee and Habersham Counties. In 1833, Dahlonega was named the county seat. Soon after, John C. Calhoun, former U.S. Vice President and U.S. Senator from South Carolina, bought the Calhoun Mines in Lumpkin County. In 1838, the Cherokee were forced by the U.S. Government to leave their beloved mountain land for "the land west of Arkansas".

The Federal Mint

In 1838, the U.S. Government opened one of the first Federal Branch Mints in Dahlonega, where more than $6 million in gold coins were minted. At the outbreak of the Civil War, the mint was closed and never reopened. In 1878, the massive foundation remained intact. This property is now North Georgia College. The building's spire is covered with 23 ounces of Dahlonega gold, while the Georgia State Capital has 60 ounces of Dahlonega gold on its dome.

The Old Courthouse

The Dahlonega Courthouse was built in 1836 and today is the oldest public building in North Georgia serving as the Dahlonega Gold Museum. Dahlonega's historic downtown area is authentic 19th-century Georgia, with lawns, trees, brick walks, and flower gardens. Many of the buildings house Appalachian crafts, pottery shops, specialty shops, a candy store, and antique stores. The old county courthouse, now the Dahlonega Gold Museum, graces the center of the square. Operated by the DNR, visitors can view old mining equipment, relics, and historical data. The building was built in 1836 in a pure Classic Greek Revival style, a popular choice in the old South, and has 22-inch thick walls, hand-blown glass windows, and some original floor bricks, with flecks of gold meshes into the clay brick. There are many other attractions in the area, such as self-guided walking tours of historic Dahlonega and a beautiful self-guided auto tour of North Lumpkin County.

End of the Mining Era

From 1828 to 1848, Dahlonega and its surrounding area produced more than $35 million in gold coins. But in 1849, the California Gold Rush drew most of the local miners west, and by 1906, the last large Dahlonega mining company, Consolidated Mining, closed its operation. There was still plenty of gold left in the area, but the cost of modern mining operations far exceeded the then fixed value ($6 oz.) of the refined gold. The Consolidated Mine, Crisson Mines, where four generations of Crissons operated gold mines from 1847 to 1987, and Gold Miner's Camp offer visitors a taste of what mining was like back in the 1800s.

Lumpkin County was established in 1832. Named in honor of Wilson Lumpkin who served in both state houses, as governor, in the U. S. House of Representatives and Senate.

The history of Lumpkin County long predates the naming of the county in 1832. As white men colonized the northern areas of the North American continent in the 1600's they moved inland and pushed the Cherokee further south and west onto land that belonged to the Creek. At that time Lumpkin and much of North Georgia was Creek land. Near Blood Mountain, in an area now called Slaughter Gap on the border with Union County, the Creek and Cherokee fought a tremendous battle that continued for a number of days. The Creek lost and retreated to a line roughly south of the Etowah River. Since neither the Cherokee nor Creek had a written language, only oral history records the battle, but supporting evidence of a conflict has been found near the gap.

Long before the Georgia Gold Rush both white men and Indians knew of the existence of the precious material in the mountains of present day Lumpkin County. Spanish miners visited the area on a number of occasions before they were completely expelled in the 1730's by white English settlers who cut off their supply route from Florida.

Sometime before 1830 gold was discovered in Lumpkin County, although mining of gold in White County was already under way. Lumpkin County resident Benjamin Parks is often mistakenly credited with the discovery because he spent much of his later years retelling the story of how he found it. Men and material poured into the area from Canton to Blairsville, forcing out the Cherokee. The town of Auraria sprang up to serve the needs of the miners while the county was still a part of Indian Territory. At one time Auraria could boast of 1500 residents and a newspaper, the Western Herald. A nearby area known as Licklog would eventually become Dahlonega. In an 1834 novel, William Gilmore Simms described Lumpkin County as "the wildest region of the then little-settled state of Georgia-doubly wild as forming the debatable land between the savage and the civilized-partaking of the ferocity of the one, and the skill, cunning and cupidity of the other."

By the time Mr. Simms novel was published Fort Dahlonega had been completed. One of the infamous Cherokee Removal Forts, the structure stood near present-day downtown Dahlonega. It would be used to house Cherokee from the area before their forced removal on "The Trail of Tears."

Early mining operations were so successful that the United States government authorized the building of a mint in Dahlonega, which was completed less than 10 years after the first strike. From 1838 to 1861 this mint produced over 6,000,000 dollars in gold coins. When the Civil War broke out the Confederate government used the mint briefly, producing another 23,000 dollars in gold coinage. The officials found running the mint too expensive and shut it down.

In 1849 the California Gold Rush began to attract miners from Lumpkin County. The highly respected assayer and state geologist Dr. Matthew Stephenson asked the miners to stay pointing out "there's millions in it." This phrase inspired Mark Twain's "Thars gold in them thar hills." However, miners began to search for the precious metal elsewhere.

During the Civil War Lumpkin gave its men to both sides, as did many counties in the North Georgia Mountains. But the atmosphere in Lumpkin alone was described as "contentious", possibly because the small band of Confederate Home Guard was kept busy repressing the pro-Union factions in the county.

Six years after the end of the war North Georgia College began as a land grant and military school. The people of Lumpkin embraced the school especially during parades that reminded the citizens of their contribution to the bloody conflict.

In the 1880's interest in Lumpkin County revived briefly as a second, albeit smaller Gold Rush brought a few hardy souls back into the area. By 1900 this had "panned out" and once again the county watched an exodus of men to richer mines in Montana and Alaska. Dredging operations were popular until 1920 in Lumpkin and Dawson counties.

As early as 1910 the Federal Government began acquiring lands in Lumpkin County for the purpose of preservation. By 1920 this effort spread throughout the entire northern third of the state and in 1936 the federal government created the Chattahoochee National Forest out of the purchases that had begun in Lumpkin County 26 years earlier thanks, in part, to the efforts of Arthur Woody.

Electricity was not available to all Lumpkin County residents until after World War II, when modern life began to encroach on the people who had encroached on the Cherokee. Many of the residents lived the home their daddy or granddaddy had built, often without water or a floor.

The advent of the automobile brought another change to Lumpkin County. Previously accessible only to people on horseback or in carriages the automobile opened up Lumpkin County to tourism, it's third gold rush.

Lumpkin County

Lumpkin County was established by the state legislature in 1832 and named after Georgia governor Wilson Lumpkin, who also served as a U.S. congressman Lumpkin County at a Glanceand senator. Lumpkin County and its seat, Dahlonega, are famous as the site of the country's first major gold rush, which began in 1828. Gold ore was plentiful enough in the northeast Georgia mountains for construction of a branch of the U.S. Mint, which operated from 1838 to 1861. The mint burned in 1878, and a new building was constructed on its foundations, which today houses the administrative offices of North Georgia College and State University (NGCSU). The Gold Museum traces the history of gold mining in Lumpkin County, and the annual World Open Gold Panning Championship commemorates the metal's continuing influence on this region. Gold Rush Days in October take thousands of participants back in time, re-creating the history, arts, and crafts of the mid-1800s.

With its pristine air, good water, and beautiful mountain views, the county is a natural oasis for urban residents and tourists. Opportunities for outdoor activities abound, both in the nearby Chattahoochee National Forest and throughout the county. Popular activities include canoeing, tubing down the Chestatee River, motorcycling, and bicycling, which culminates in September's Six Gap Century and Three Gap Fifty bicycle rides.

Lumpkin County is steeped in history. NGCSU, located in the center of Dahlonega, is the military college of Georgia and a liberal arts institution serving the northeast Georgia region. The cadet corps includes a world-famous precision drill team, the Blue Ridge Rifles. The original Blue Ridge Rifles were organized in 1861 as Company E, Phillip's Legion Infantry–The Blue Ridge Rifles. In 1958 the drill platoon at NGCSU was renamed the Blue Ridge Rifles, in honor of the original unit.

Lumpkin County covers an area of 284 square miles. According to the 2000 U.S. census, the population was 21,016, a 44 percent increase from the census of 1990. By 2010 the population had increased to 29,966. Long-term county residents, a residential college population, and newly arrived workers along the Highway 400 corridor to Atlanta all call Lumpkin County home.

Dahlonega has an active parks and recreation program with excellent facilities, as well as a new jail. Lumpkin County High School was initially opened in fall 2003, as was a new elementary school. The county's economic base rests on the service industry, tourism, wine-making industry, and poultry farming.

Its proximity to Atlanta (about sixty miles) allows residents to enjoy international cultural and recreational opportunities while living in a semirural, less hectic environment.