Calhoun Mine
| Calhoun Mine | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| National Register of Historic Places | |||
| National Historic Landmark | |||
 Calhoun Mine , entrance |
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| location | Dahlonega , Lumpkin County , Georgia | ||
| Coordinates | 34 ° 29 '31.3 " N , 83 ° 58' 55.7" W | ||
| NRHP number | 73002292 | ||
| Data | |||
| The NRHP added | 7th November 1973 | ||
| Declared as an NHL | 7th November 1973 | ||
The Calhoun Mine is a historic gold mine south of the city of Dahlonega in Lumpkin County in the US state of Georgia .
In 1829, the discovery of the gold deposit triggered the first gold rush in Georgia and the onslaught of gold prospectors quickly led to massive conflicts with the Cherokee Indians settling in the area , expropriations and the expulsion of the Indians from the traditional settlement areas were the result. Because of its historical significance, the mine, which had been closed since 1946, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places .
Geographical location of the mine
The Calhoun Gold Mine is located on a hill about 3 miles south of Dahlonega west of Georgia State Route 60 , between the road and the east bank of the Chestatee River .
The shafts and tunnels from the first mining activities are still there; the earliest tunnels extend between 40 and 46 meters in a northeasterly and northerly direction into the mountain. In the 20th century, new tunnels were built parallel to the older ones, such as the Duglas tunnel, which was drilled around 1940 and leads almost 50 meters into the mountainside.
History of the Calhoun Mine
The Calhoun gold mine is one of the oldest and most famous gold mines in Georgia . When exactly the first gold discoveries were made in Georgia cannot be dated. It is believed that Indians found the first gold along the Chestatee River around 1815. It was not until Benjamin Parks discovered a gold nugget in 1828 on Robert Obarr's approximately 1 km² property that led to the first gold rush in Georgia the following year.
After changing hands at least twice, the politician and later seventh Vice President of the United States , John C. Calhoun from South Carolina, acquired the land around the gold mine. To further develop the region he founded a mining company, the management of which later passed to his son-in-law Thomas Green Clemson , an American politician and diplomat, founder of Clemson University . According to a letter from Clemson to his brother-in-law in 1856, the ore deposits were very rich, so that gold could be mined in large quantities for almost 30 years. This gold mine was, along with the Consolidated Mine and the Loud Mine , the most productive gold mine in the Georgian gold belt. Until 1879 the Calhoun Mine was owned by the Calhoun family. After the deposits of the gold mine had been almost completely dismantled, a new gold vein was discovered in 1939 and opened up due to the rise in gold value. Then the mine was shut down. Lumpkin County, and especially the Dahlonega District, probably produced between 400,000 and 500,000 ounces of gold by 1959.
The advance of the numerous gold diggers into Indian settlement areas led to conflicts between the miners and the Cherokee Indians. The Indian Removal Act , passed by Congress in 1830, regulated the expropriation and displacement of the Cherokee, which resulted in the forcible relocation of the Indians on the path of tears . In 1973 the gold mine was designated a National Historic Landmark and added to the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of its importance as a memorial to the Cherokee eviction .
See also
literature
- Benjamin Levy: Calhoun Mine . National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), Inventory - Nomination Form. Historic Sites Survey, National Park Service, Washington, no year (not after 1973). Online (PDF) .
- AH Koschmann, MH Bergendahl: Principal Gold-Producing Districts of the United States . A description of the geology, mining history, and production of the major gold-mining districts in 21 States. US Department of the Interior, Geological Survey Professional Paper 610, pp. 119f. Online (PDF) .
Web links
- Sylvia Gailey Head: Gold in Georgia .
- (Review article on the history of the Calhoun Mine on the Gold Rush Gallery website )
- Edward A. Johnson: "Thar's Gold in Them Thar Hills" . Georgia Gold History.
- (Historical explanations and notes on various digitization projects on the Digital Library of Georgia website )
- Photograph of an interior view of the Calhoun Mine production facilities, 1899 ( stamping mill ), Vanishing Georgia Collection, Georgia Archives.
- Photo of the entrance to the Calhoun Mine, 1955 , Vanishing Georgia Collection, Georgia Archives.
- Calhoun Mine in the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System .
Remarks
- ^ Benjamin Levy: Calhoun Mine . NRHP Inventory, Nomination Form. National Park Service, Washington, n.d. (not after 1973); accessed January 11, 2018.
- ^ Benjamin Levy: Calhoun Mine . NRHP Inventory, Nomination Form. National Park Service, Washington, n.d. (not after 1973); accessed January 11, 2018.
- ^ Sylvia Gailey Head: Gold in Georgia ; accessed January 11, 2018.
- ↑ Koschmann, Bergendahl: Principal Gold-Producing Districts of the United States . Department of the Interior, Geological Survey Professional Paper 610, p. 119; accessed January 11, 2018.
- ^ Benjamin Levy: Calhoun Mine . NRHP Inventory, Nomination Form. National Park Service, Washington, n.d. (not after 1973); accessed January 11, 2018.