Cape Nome Cape Nome is a headland on the Seward Peninsula in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is situated on the northern shore of Norton Sound, to the east of Nome also on Norton Sound. It is delimited by the Norton Sound to the south, Hastings Creek on th ...

Mining District Discovery Sites is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

located in

Nome, Alaska Nome (; ik, Sitŋasuaq, ) is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of Alaska, United States. The city is located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. It had a population of 3,699 recorded ...

. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1978. It is significant for its role in the history of gold mining in Alaska, in particular the

Nome Gold Rush The Nome Gold Rush was a gold rush in Nome, Alaska, approximately 1899–1909.. It is separated from other gold rushes by the ease with which gold could be obtained. Much of the gold was lying in the beach sand of the landing place and could b ...

that began in 1899. with It was the discovery of gold at several sites by the "Three Swedes" (Erik Lindblom, __, and ___) that set off the

. Four sites are included within the NHL District: *Anvil Creek Gold Discovery Site, which is separately listed on the National Register with *Snow Creek Placer Claim No. 1, which is separately listed on the National Register with *Erik Lindblom Placer Claim, which is separately listed on the National Register with *Nome Beach, a areaNome Beach
Alaska.org. Retrieved 29 Apr 2023. The three Swedes reported they discovered the Erik Lindblom Placer Claim on Mountain Creek on September 19, 1898, the Snow Creek Claim on September 20, and the Anvil Creek Discovery Claim on September 22. Gold mining in the

Nome mining district The Nome mining district, also known as the Cape Nome mining district, is a gold mining district in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was discovered in 1898 when Erik Lindblom, Jafet Lindeberg and John Brynteson, the "Three Lucky Swedes", found pla ...

continues to this day.

Anvil Creek Gold Discovery Site

The site by Anvil Creek about north of what became the city of Nome, in a valley to the west of low, treeless

Anvil Peak Anvil Peak is a cone volcano located in Aleutian Islands, Alaska, United States. Etymology The volcano was originally named in 1951, on a map by the United States Geological Survey. Its name was taken after a plateau located on the northern sid ...

. It was one of the richest placer claim sites ever found in Alaska and yielded more than $5 million during its first five years. By 1965 the site was "largely returned to nature".

Erik Lindblom Placer Claim

The Erik Lindblom Placer Claim is on Mountain Creek, which is an often dry tributary that joins the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...

about inland from the Snake River's outlet, at Nome, into Norton Sound on the

Bering Sea The Bering Sea (, ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasses on Earth: Eurasia and The Ameri ...

. The claim is on the "Third Beach", about above sea level, which is the furthest inland former seafront in the Nome area. Geologically, a high concentration of gold was produced by ocean waves, similar to the later production of gold concentration on Nome's beach. The site was the first of three gold discovery sites by the three miners. Oddly, ownership of the claim site could not be determined at the time of its NRHP nomination in 1975; the last known owner was "Pioneer Mining Company", more than 50 years before then. In 1975, the area was back to a "natural state", although debris in the form of mining equipment and domestic implements remained. Nothing on the land then distinguished the Erik Lindblom Placer Claim from the surrounding area.

Snow Creek Placer Claim No. 1

The Snow Creek Placer Claim No. 1 is a -wide strip running along Snow Creek, up from its confluence with Glacier Creek, which joins the

about further down. Snow Creek is often dry. Placer mining on Snow Creek was nearly exhausted by 1903.

Nome Beach

In 1899, about 1,000 miners in Nome were idle due to the fact that the entire Anvil Creek had been claimed, (and presumably so had all other known placer mining sites in the area). It was fortuitously discovered that the beach at Nome was itself gold-laden, and rockers could garner $20 to $100 each day. Locations of all places having coordinates in this page can be seen together in an interactive map, by clicking on "Map of all coordinates using Open Source Map", on the right side of this page.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places 1898 establishments in the United States Geography of Nome Census Area, Alaska National Historic Landmarks in Alaska Historic district contributing properties in Alaska Beaches of Alaska