...North Carolina Gold...

...while we were visiting family in North Carolina for the holidays...a friend told us that the very first gold found in America was found in NC and the first gold rush was in North Carolina...

...although we were both born and raised in North Carolina...this was surprising news to us...but we did a little research and found that it is definitely true...and the gold mine was not far away...link to the Reed Gold Mine site...

...we learned from this timeline that the heyday of gold mining in North Carolina was from the turn of the 19th century to just before the Civil War...

...there is a well laid out museum in the visitor center...we spent some time in there before we headed to the mine...

So how much gold was found in North Carolina. Other than what was actually taken to a Mint, no one knows. Miners often kept their yield secret, and even in a working incorporated mine, gold was often stolen by workers. Perhaps one half to two thirds of all North Carolina gold went to places other than mints. These are the values reported to the mints since 1803:

Philadelphia mint (until 1860) $ 9.1 million
Charlotte mint (1837-1860) $ 4.7 million
Betchtler mint (until 1840) $ 3.7 million
Total $ 17.5 million

...we learned lots of mining terms...

...and we didn't know that there was a mint in North Carolina...The Government authorized the Charlotte Mint in 1837. It served as headquarters for the Confederacy during the Civil War. After the war it continued to operate as a federal assay office for 50 years.

...It coined $1, $2.50 and $5 gold pieces...

...a plaster cast taken of the last large nugget found in North Carolina...

...it weighed 23 lbs...

...and we learned about John Reed who found the first nugget and started the gold rush when he sold it for a week's wages $3.50...what he thought was a good price...It's actual value at the time was about $3600, so the jeweler really took advantage...not nice...

...the gold mine was already in decline by the start of the Civil War...and they used the mines mainly to supply the sulphur and lead that they needed for ammunitions...

...we saw the site of the first gold nugget found in this creek...

...then we headed into the mine...

...an adit is a horizontal shaft...this one has been widened for visitors...

...this is more like the areas that the miners actually worked...

...a 50 ft. shaft...looking up...

...the outside of the shaft...with a kibble...a type of bucket used for hauling up ore...

...the ruins of the boiler works...

...Scout investigating the chimney...

...the Stamp Mill...

...they used different types of stamps and rollers to crush the ore...

...and then concentrating tables to separate the gold...

...and Scout tried his hand at panning...

...and actually found a flake of gold...

...it was a lot of fun...

~Have a lovely day!