The Story Of The Pine Mountain Gold Mine & Its Road To & From Prosperity
Gold. It's spawned trials, tribulations, and tears. The Georgia Gold Rush is no exception. The rush started in 1829, near the present day city of Dahlonega, and spread rapidly throughout the mountains and hillsides of northern Georgia. Although there were reports that the Native Americans knew about gold in the mountains of Georgia long before, a public exclamation of gold in 1829 spawned a mad dash to the hills.
"Oral history tells the story that Ben Parks tripped over an interesting colored rock and went back into town and told a few friends" says Exhibit Guide Lynda Bryan from the Dahlonega Gold Museum located in Dahlonega, Georgia. This proclamation, along with a public notice that ran in the Georgia Journal on August 1, 1829, announcing "two gold mines have just been discovered in this county, and preparations are making to bring these hidden treasures of the earth to use" spurred thousands of folks to the area.
Christopher Worick, President of the Lumpkin County Historical Society in Dahlonega agrees with Bryan, but offers a second theory that is often debated in the history of the gold rush.
Worick explains that "accounts vary as to who and when the first gold discovery in Georgia was made, but there are generally two accepted versions. In what is now Lumpkin County, just south of the North Carolina border, Benjamin Parks was said to have discovered gold while out hunting on his birthday: October 27th, 1828. The second account states that John Witherow, recently arrived in Georgia from North Carolina, discovered Gold on Duke's Creek in Habersham County. The Witherow version is more plausible since the first announcement in Georgia newspapers about gold being found occur in early August 1829 and state that Habersham County was the scene of a 'Gold Mania.'"
Bryan notes how "there were 10,000 people within in a year looking for gold in North Georgia." By the 1830s, the Georgia Gold Rush was in full swing. The area quickly started producing mining operations with miners working the area in droves.
Hampering the gold rush, however, was that much of the land where the gold was discovered was under the control of the Cherokee Indian Tribe. "The gold belt as it is known generally follows a line northeast to southwest extending from Virginia into Northern Alabama. By 1828, it was already theorized that the gold region extended into Georgia. However, at that time the Northern portion of the state of Georgia was home to the Cherokee Nation. Since the Nation was not under the jurisdiction of State or Federal authorities, thousands of white trespassers ignored claims of Cherokee sovereignty and began searching for the yellow metal thus creating the first Gold Rush in United States history. By late 1830, over 10,000 or more intruders had crossed into Cherokee country" states Worick.
The culmination of tensions between Georgia natives and the Cherokee led to the forced migration of thousands of Native Americans from the state. This move was backed by both the Georgia Governor George Rockingham Gilmer and President Andrew Jackson with the Indian Removal Act of 1830, eventually leading to what was later known as the Trail of Tears. This resulted in the death of thousands of Native Americans forced to migrate.
"In 1832, Gilmer issued a proclamation which read that the state of Georgia asserted its right over the Cherokee Nation since the Nation was located within the borders of Georgia, “ relates Worick. Further, it abolished once and for all, any claims of Cherokee sovereignty and created ten new counties for the state of Georgia. In essence, the Cherokee people had no rights in their own lands, and a lottery was held for eligible white Georgia citizens to win forty acre lots within the Cherokee gold region" tells Worick.
"In 1832, Gilmer issued a proclamation which read that the state of Georgia asserted its right over the Cherokee Nation since the Nation was located within the borders of Georgia, “ relates Worick. Further, it abolished once and for all, any claims of Cherokee sovereignty and created ten new counties for the state of Georgia. In essence, the Cherokee people had no rights in their own lands, and a lottery was held for eligible white Georgia citizens to win forty acre lots within the Cherokee gold region" tells Worick.
Despite these troubles, mining for gold in the Georgia hills continued well into the twentieth century, but not with the same force and gusto. "It became more and more difficult and expensive to mine for gold" adds Bryan. By 1849, gold was discovered in California sending many miners out west looking for their next windfall effectively taking fuel from the fire.
Today, visitors, Georgia natives, and tourists alike can visit sites dedicated to those very trials, tribulations and tears spawned by the influx of folks to the area during the peak of the gold rush. This includes not only the Dahlonega Gold Museum located in the center of Dahlonega which averages 20,000 visitors per year, but also sites geared toward showcasing what gold mining looked like
The Pine Mountain Gold Museum at Stockmar Park in Villa Rica, Georgia is one such site. The museum has been helping to preserve the rich history of Villa Rica's contribution to gold mining for over one hundred years. Guests are welcomed to enjoy a day in the park with walking trails, picnic on the grounds or in the pavilion, pan for gold, tour intact ruins of some of the Pine Mountain gold mines, and visit the 4,800 square foot museum. Pine Mountain also offers a short, scenic railroad trip around the mountain.
With a painful, but rich history, the hills of northern Georgia are a perfect spot for RV adventurers looking to break camp for a few days to take in the olden days of the Georgia Gold Rush.