Auraria is a
ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...
in
Lumpkin County
Lumpkin County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,488. Its county seat is Dahlonega.
History
This area was settled by the Cherokee, who also occupie ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, United States, southwest of
Dahlonega
The city of Dahlonega () is the county seat of Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,242, and in 2018 the population was estimated to be 6,884.
Dahlonega is located at the north end of ...
. Its name derives from ''aurum'', the Latin word for ''gold''. In its early days, it was also known variously as Dean, Deans, Nuckollsville, and Scuffle Town.
History
Thousands of settlers came to these former Cherokee lands in search of gold during the
Georgia Gold Rush
The Georgia Gold Rush was the second significant gold rush in the United States and the first in Georgia, and overshadowed the previous rush in North Carolina. It started in 1829 in present-day Lumpkin County near the county seat, Dahlonega, a ...
, and following the
Gold Lottery of 1832. One of the first gold rush boom towns started here in June 1832, when William Dean built a cabin between the
Chestatee River The Chestatee River (variant spellings Chestatie, Chestetee, Chostatee, Chosteta, Chestotee; none in modern use) is a file geodatabase (GDB) at ftp://rockyftp.cr.usgs.gov/vdelivery/Datasets/Staged/Hydro/FileGDB101/ river in the Appalachian Mountain ...
and
Etowah River
The Etowah River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 waterway that rises northwest of Dahlonega, Georgia, north of Atlanta. On Matthew Carey's 179 ...
. The temporary seat of Lumpkin County in 1832, Nathaniel Nuckolls built a tavern, hotel, and several buildings to house the miners. Within six months of the lottery, "one hundred family dwellings, eighteen or twenty stores, twelve or fifteen law offices, and four or five taverns" were to be found in the town. The population was 1,000 by May 1833, and 10,000 were in the county.
[
The land east of Auraria was purchased by Vice President ]John C. Calhoun
John Caldwell Calhoun (; March 18, 1782March 31, 1850) was an American statesman and political theorist from South Carolina who held many important positions including being the seventh vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832. He ...
, and there he established the Calhoun Mine. A traveling companion of Calhoun, Dr. Croft, suggested the town be renamed ''Aureola'', in November 1832. The town citizens chose ''Auraria'', suggested by John Powell.[
The banks of the ]Etowah River
The Etowah River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 waterway that rises northwest of Dahlonega, Georgia, north of Atlanta. On Matthew Carey's 179 ...
, Camp Creek, and Cane Creek had many mines (Barlow Mine, Battle Branch Mine
The Battle Branch Mine, sometimes referred to as the Battle Creek Mine, was located near the town of Auraria in Lumpkin County, Georgia. Gold was first discovered there in 1831. During the Georgia Gold Rush, before the Gold Lottery of 1832, men ...
, Ralston Mine, Whim Hill Mine, Hedwig-Chicago Mine, Gold Hill Mine Etowah Mine, and others).
The gold lot on which most of Auraria stood was won by John R. Plummer, but his right to participate in the lottery was questioned. Faced with this legal challenge, the Inferior Court judges picked the site north of Auraria near the Cane Creek mining area. Auraria experienced a sharp decline as businesses and county offices relocated. The first session of the Superior Court of Lumpkin County met in what became known as Dahlonega, Georgia
The city of Dahlonega () is the county seat of Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,242, and in 2018 the population was estimated to be 6,884.
Dahlonega is located at the north end of ...
on Aug. 22, 1833.[ Due to its location and political influence, Dahlonega received a Federal Mint for gold coins.
In 1848, gold was discovered in California. Former Auraria resident Jennie Wimmer, a cook in rural California, was the first person to prove the gold's authenticity,] because she was the only person on the scene who knew how to perform the proper tests. This discovery led to the California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California f ...
of 1849. Discoveries of gold in California and soon after in Colorado caused Auraria to eventually fade into history. Gold mining in Georgia decreased and eventually all but ceased as miners went west looking for uncharted prospecting. Auraria's population quickly dwindled, and the community deteriorated.
William Greeneberry Russell and a party of men of Auraria who left for Kansas Territory
The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the free state of Kansas.
...
formed the settlement of Auraria in 1858; the town later merged with Denver, Colorado
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
.
Present day
There are still a few old buildings standing: Woody's store at Castleberry Bridge Road, that remained open till the early 1980s; a red house that was once a bank; another house across the street; and a couple of foundations. They stand in lone testament to the 19th century gold rush.
Geography
To visit Auraria, travel from the square in Dahlonega on the west road to Dawsonville, pass the college (the gold-domed building is built on the foundation of the old mint). Turn left at the bottom of that hill and continue about 3 miles. The old red house on the left is the bank; after it, the collapsing building is the old hotel and just beyond on the left is the old Woody's store. Castleberry Bridge Road to the right leads down to the Etowah River.
Citations
Further reading
*
External links
Lumpkin County, Georgia
Auraria historical marker
'Thar's Gold in Them Thar Hills': Gold and Gold Mining in Georgia, 1830s-1940s
from the Digital Library of Georgia
The Digital Library of Georgia (DLG) is an online, public collection of documents and media about the history and culture of the state of Georgia, United States. The collection includes more than a million digitized objects from more than 200 Georg ...
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Mining communities in Georgia (U.S. state)
Populated places in Lumpkin County, Georgia
Ghost towns in Georgia (U.S. state)
Tourist attractions in Lumpkin County, Georgia
Former county seats in Georgia (U.S. state)