Georgia Gold Rush - 1828 - History of Gold #2

A few days ago, I was doing some research on mining output of various precious metals. It got me thinking about the history of gold mining in the US which led me to the understanding that the first gold rush in the US wasn't in California. I thought that was interesting because I just assumed it was the first major gold rush in the US. As it turns out, it was the 3rd major gold rush and it wasn't the last. I wrote about the first gold rush HERE.

The 2nd gold rush in the US took place in Georgia and it was a bit of an eye opener for me. It started in 1829 in what is now Lumpkin County and there are various accounts I've read on how it started. I'm sure some of them are partly true, suffice it to say that it started in 1828 and was fully underway in 1829. From Lumpkin County, it quickly spread throughout the Georgia Mountains. Much of the discovery was on Cherokee lands, I would guess that didn't play out well for the Native Americans.

In the beginning of the Georgia Gold rush, the majority of the mining was placer mining. Basically an early form of a sluce box for all of you that have watched Gold Rush on the Discovery Channel.

Source

It is estimated that there were over 4,000 miners working on Yahoola Creek alone producing over 300 ounces of gold per day. Instead of the Charlotte, NC mint as I described in my previous post, this gold went to The Philadelphia Mint and it received $212,000 in gold from Georgia in 1830 alone.

It wasn't too long after that gold mines started to appear in most counties in the Northern Georgia mountains.

The culmination of tensions between the Cherokee and various states, including Georgia, led to the forced migration of Native Americans, later known as the Trail of Tears. You can read more about that HERE. President Andrew Jackson authorized the Indian Removal Act in 1830, which would allow a take over of the gold mining areas among other places from the Native Americans.

The Philadelphia Mint received over half a million dollars in gold from Georgia in 1832. The state of Georgia held the Gold Lottery of 1832 and awarded land, which had been owned by the Cherokee, to the winners in 40-acre tracts. The Philadelphia Mint received $1,098,900 in gold from Georgia between 1830 & 1837.

Similar as to the Charlotte Mint being started to support the gold mining in North Carolina, in 1838, the Dahlonega Mint was established by Congress, as a branch of the United States Mint.

Dahlonega Mint Source

$3 Gold Princess Source

Large stamp mills appeared in 1833, at the Columbia Mine in McDuffie County. These reduced the ores found in the region to a fine sand for additional panning, or for separation via mercury amalgamation. Besides the Calhoun Mine, other major gold mines included the Sixes, Logan, Elrod, Battle Branch, Pigeon Roost, Turkey Hill, Free Jim, Holt, Loud, Cleveland, Gordon, Horshaw, Lumsden, and Richardson.

Nevertheless, by the 1840s gold mining saw a sharp decline, as the gold began to "play out" and stopped virtually all together with the news of discovery in California at the end of the decade.

@matthewwarn