Dahlonega Gold Museum

We drove over the mountain to the quaint town of Dahlonega.  On the way ice was still covering rock outcroppings in the higher elevations.  It was so tempting to pull over to the side of the road and break off one of the icicles and suck on it like you did when you were a kid, but we didn't...maybe another time.  The town of Dahlonega was established in 1833 and was actually the site of the first gold rush in the United States.  We first had lunch and then toured the Dahlonega Gold Museum, which is in the old courthouse.  Gold was discovered in 1823 in the Dahlonega area by a deer hunter.  The hunter tripped over the gold nugget so the story goes.  The courthouse as it now stands is the oldest courthouse in the state of GA.  The bricks were made from the mud of a creek bed in the area.  You can actually see flecks of gold in the bricks.  The display of gold coins in the museum is worth between 7 & 9 million dollars.

~ stamping press ~

extracted gold from the material that was dug out of the mine

~ can you see the flecks of gold? :-) ~