Dahlonega Gold Museum and Historic Site | Dahlonega, Georgia
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Twenty years before the 1849 gold rush to California, thousands of gold seekers started the nation’s first gold rush by flocking to the Cherokee Nation in North Georgia, which lies in the Upper Chattahoochee Watershed, near the tributaries of the Chestatee River. The towns of Auraria and Dahlonega grew and prospered with this mining activity. Between 1838 and 1861, more than $6 million in gold was coined by the U.S. Branch Mint in Dahlonega. The Dahlonega Gold Museum, formerly the Lumpkin County Courthouse, offers visitors a look at the mining history of Georgia. Gold coins minted in Dahlonega and nuggets – one weighing more than 5 ounces – are on display. A 23-minute film describes the mining techniques and lifestyles of the prospectors through interviews with members of the longtime mining families in the Dahlonega area. In the town of Dahlonega, visitors can shop for gold nuggets and pan for gold.
