Although the west, particularly California, is the place best known for gold mining, America’s first gold discovery occurred in 1799 right here in North Carolina. Specifically, gold was discovered on the farm of John Reed who resided in Cabarrus County. Surprising? This is one of North Carolina’s forgotten histories and written about in the book Gold Mining in North Carolina: a Bicentennial History by Richard F. Knapp and Brent D. Glass.
The book is divided into 5 main chapters with each chapter covering a time period from 1799-1915 followed by a short unnumbered chapter on the legacies of gold mining in North Carolina through 1999.
Gold was found throughout western North Carolina (according to a map on page 7 detailing the occurrence of gold in the state). Consequently, the book outlines gold mining in roughly the same area.
Come on over to the Government and Heritage Library to read the book. As a reminder, our genealogy books do not circulate via Interlibrary Loan (ILL); however, since we do have this book in our state documents department, your local public library can request this book through ILL.
