There was a Gold Rush in Georgia?
Call me stupid…but I have to admit that I had no idea. Now, certainly I knew about the California gold rush. Further, I knew about the Alaska/Yukon gold rush. But, that’s about it for my known USA gold rushes. Thankfully, one of PugsleyTonks’ learned subscribers had my back. Recently, prior to our Bigfoot expedition, a friend and I stopped along the way at Dahlonega, Georgia. Its a well off, but quaint Georgia town just before you get into the more serious boonies. Above anything else, Dahlonega is about GOLD. And apparently, there was a gold rush in Georgia .
First, you pan for gold… 
…then you mine it 
…then regrettably, the tourists come
First, I am duty bound to provide some historical perspective. Somewhere around 1828, someone discovered gold laying about the Carroll county area of Georgia. So, regrettably, the first step was to screw over the Native Americas. The gold was in Cherokee territory. So, we pushed them out with a barrage of mining operations to ravage their lands. At first, most of the mining was the relatively benign, such as panning for gold in the streams. But, as that ran out, the mining operations got serious. One favorite approach was using high pressure water to wash away the land to expose the gold. Also, there was the traditional gold mine for that really deep gold. But eventually, the rush runs its course. Then, what do you do with these abandoned mines? Well, you turn them into tourist attractions of course. I give you the Consolidated Gold Mining Company of Dahlonega, GA.
Consolidate Gold Mining Company 
The descent down to the mine… 
…and we reach the bottom
At this point, the story goes pretty much as you would expect. You pay a nominal fee ($20). Then, a tour guide takes you down into an old gold mine and tells you of the mining operation, and lets you enjoy the sites. Rather than droning on about the tour, this just seems like a post best told with pictures…
Aetna started in the dynamite business 
Places where the gold used to be
Guide gathers us for story time 
Mining process; drill hole, insert dynamite, light fuse, run 
Old mining equipment or religious symbology?
Most beams seemed sturdy enough… 
…and, this run went under the local Walmart
So, I think that about covers the tour. Its worth doing as long as you are not afraid of the dark, claustrophobic, or hate getting wet. You can add a bit to the visit by allowing time to stop in the town of Dahlonega for lunch. Perhaps, you can even take in the Dahlonega Gold Museum in the old county courthouse. The museum will give you far more historic details than I am capable of offering. At the very least, I hope you now know that there was a gold rush in Georgia. Have a wonderful day, PT
I hope you have enjoyed reading “There was a gold rush in Georgia?” on Traveling with PugsleyTonks.
If you enjoyed that post, check this out https://travelingwithpt.com/harpers-ferry-wv/
If you want to hunt your own gold in Dahlonega, https://consolidatedgoldmine.com/underground-adventures/
