AURARIA
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AURARIA |
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NAME: Auraria COUNTY: Lumpkin ROADS: 2WD GRID: 1 CLIMATE: Moderate summers-mild winters BEST TIME TO VISIT: Spring, fall, winter |
COMMENTS:
A few farmers live near the area directions: to get there from atlanta take ga 400 north until it becomes a divided highway called 400 or s.R.19 you'll when you get into lumpkin county, you'll come to the first intersection where the is old auraria road. Don't turn here! go up to the next intersect were burnt stand road is turn left onto burnt stand and you'll head north untill it merges with old auraria road. Continue north for 3-5 miles and you'll come to a three way intersection of castleberry bridge and old auraria road where you'll see a historical marker, few abandoned stores and homes and that is auraria REMAINS: An Abandoned Hotel that has been there since the 1830's, an abondoned general store, a few abandoned homes and outbuildings |
Gold was first discovered in the area of Auraria, Dahlonega, and the Northeast Georgia Mountains by Hernando De Soto in the 1540's and the Spaniards set up mining operations from the 1540's to the early 1800's until they were driven out of Georgia. Gold was rediscovered by the English in 1819 in what is today White County. Then, in 1828, a hunter by the name of Benjamin Parks was hunting the territory west of the Chattahoochee River when he tripped over a rock only to discover that it was full of gold. At the time, the area was part of the Cherokee Indian Reservation. It should be noted the Indians knew of the presence of gold long before the whites, and they had already set up gold mines. Before the Indians left on the Trail of Tears or hid up in the Blue Ridge Mountains they hid their treasure so the white men couldn’t find it. Benjamin Parks told a few people about the gold and in 10 months there were over 1,000 miners living illegally on Cherokee Land. The miners called themselves the 29's after the year 1829. The Miners and Merchants quickly threw up towns to support the vibrant population. The first two towns they built were Auraria and Dahlonega. Auraria means "City of Gold” in Latin, and Dahlonega, in Cherokee, means "Yellow." By 1830 the region had produced over 300 ounces of gold. Auraria was the county seat from 1828-1832 with a population of over 1,000. It had 20 saloons, 5 hotels, even its own newspaper. But in 1832 it was moved to Dahlonega and, between 1828-1849, over 20,000,000 dollars in gold was mined. In 1838, the same year as the Trail of Tears, the Federal Government opened a mint in Dahlonega that operated between 1838 and1861. The year 1849 marked the end of Georgia’s first and most major gold rush when word of gold being discovered in California, reached Dahlonega and Auraria. The Miners Picked up their belongings and headed west. From 1849 to1880 there was little, if any, gold mining. However, in 1880 Hydraulic Mining was introduced, making gold mining profitable again and instigating the rebirth of Dahlonega. Although this form of mining was very effective, it was disastrous to the environment. In 1906 the largest stamping mill east of the Mississippi was in Dahlonega and was in operation until 1907, when the company went bankrupt. However since 1915 gold mining has decreased steadily due to the expensive method of extracting the gold versus the value of gold. Mining didn't stop completely; it continued legally until 1934 when it became illegal to own gold or mine it. In 1968 the ban was lifted and people began mining again, though on a much smaller scale. However this doesn’t mean that all the gold has been played out, there is still a lot of gold hidden up in the mountains either because of natural forces or by the Indians, who it's said knew where the richest veins were and hid them from the white men. Mining, however, still goes on today. One mine, Crissiom, just outside of Dahlonega, has been in operation since 1831. It’s still in operation to this day, and you can pan for gold there. Though people still mine gold in Dahlonega, they no longer mine in Auraria. Over time it died out due to no railroad, mines playing out, and poor soil which made farming rather difficult. Today Dahlonega is a tourist town where you can pan for gold or take tours of an old gold mine circa 1906. Not much is left of Auraria, though it set the standard for all the other ghost towns to follow. It was the first town born in a gold rush and it was the first to die. "Kind of ironic don't you think?" It should be noted however that the suburb of Denver, Colo. called Auraria was named after Auraria, Ga. In 1858 the "Russell Boy's," led by Green Russell, went west and established another Auraria near the mouth of Cherry Creek that later became Denver, Col. Green Russell uncovered a fabulous lobe called Russell Gulch near which the Central City of Colorado was built "richest square mile on earth." "It's Ironic that Auraria's sister town only exists today." Submitted by: Grant Nelson |
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