Gold Mines of Lumpkin County

 

Battle Branch Mine The Battle Branch Mine, sometime referred to as the Battle Creek Mine, was located near the town of Auraria in Lumpkin County, Georgia. During the Georgia Gold Rush, sometime before the Gold Lottery of 1832, men from several different states were all working in the same stream when a dispute over the possession of the place ended in a fight in which a number of men were seriously wounded, providing the name for the mine ultimately located there. After the American Civil War, William John Turner Hutcheson, who served with the Blue Ridge Rifles, a Confederate fighting unit from Dahlonega, Georgia, became superintendent of the Battle Branch gold mine. The mine continued producing gold well into the 1900’s, producing 661.28 ounces (20.568 kg) of gold in 1935. There is some confusion as to the actual location of the mine. The United States Geological Survey lists two mines named Battle Branch Mine. Both are to the east of Auraria, but one is on the west side of the Etowah River and the other is on the east side of the Etowah River.

Calhoun Mine The Calhoun Mine is perhaps the oldest and best known mine in Lumpkin County, Georgia. When gold was discovered in Lumpkin County in 1828, which lead to the Georgia Gold Rush in 1829, it was discovered on 239 acres (0.97 km2) owned by Robert Obar. After at least two intermediary sales, the land was purchased by Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, who was also the 7th Vice President of the United States. Calhoun started a mining company to mine the land and later allowed his son-in-law Thomas Green Clemson, the founder of Clemson University, to manage it. The ore deposit was a very rich deposit and, according to an 1856 letter from Clemson to his brother-in-law, was still producing significant quantities of gold nearly 30 years after its initial discovery on the land. This mine - along with the Consolidated Mine and the Loud Mine - were some of the most productive mines in the Georgia Gold Belt. In 1879, the Calhoun Mine passed from the Calhoun family. In 1939, after the deposits at the Calhoun Mine were long thought to be depleted, a small pocket was discovered and mined. After that excitement, things became quiet once again at the mine. The Calhoun Mine was added to the National Register of Historical Places[2] and named a National Historic Landmark in 1973. Calhoun Mine is located about 3 miles (5 km) south of Dahlonega off GA highway 60 and on the eastern side of the Chestatee River. It's on a hill on the west side of the road - about 0.6 miles (1 km) off the road - on the opposite side of the ridge. It is on private property.

Consolidated Mine The Consolidated Mine was a gold mine in Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States, just east of Dahlonega. Like most of the area around Dahlonega, the placer mining on the land on which the mine is located probably started during the Georgia Gold Rush. By 1880, the placer deposits were exhausted and the land was down to hard rock. Gold was soon discovered in a huge quartz vein system, and mined. "The richest acre" was mined deep into the ground - and the resulting shaft became known as the "Glory Hole.” After an interruption of operations at the mine, a group of investors purchased about 7,000 acres (28 km²) of land around the discovery sight and formed the Dahlonega Consolidated Gold Mining Co. in 1895. After constructing the largest stamp mill east of the Mississippi River at the Consolidated Mine property, the Mining Co. folded in 1906. The mine's lower workings became flooded and lay dormant until seventy-five years later, when the site came under new ownership. There is still gold to be mined here - but the cost of extracting the gold from the mine exceeds the value of the gold, at least for the time being. Today, a part of the upper level of the mine remains open for tourists, who can tour portions of the “Glory Hole” underground and pan for gold. Original cart rails, electrical lines and even an operational pneumatic drill recovered from the mine may be viewed. This mine and Crisson Mine are the two mines in the Dahlonega area that remain open for tourists. The Consolidated Mine remains the only mine in the area safe enough to take tourists into.

Other Mines in Lumpkin County

Not all are listed here, I still have some research to do on these mines.

Barlow Cut Mine Battle Branch Mine Beers Mine Benning Mine Betz Mine Boley Fields Mine Boston Cut Mine Briarpatch Mine Buffington Mine Bunker Hill Mine Calhoun Mine Consolidated Mine Copper Mines (copper mine) Crisson Mine Dry Hollow Mine Early Mine Etowah Mine Findley Mine Fish Trap Mine Hedwig Mine Josephine Mine Jumbo Mine Liberty Bell Mine Lockhart Mine Logan Hill Mine Long Branch Mind Lumpkin Chestatee Mine Mary Henry Mine McIntosh Mine Mtn Valley Mine Norrell Mine Ralston Mine Stegal Mine Teat Mine Trammell Mine Turkey Hill Mine Wells Mine Whim Hill Mine

 

 

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