The Franklin-Creighton Mine was a

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, and ...

gold mine located off what is now Yellow Creek Road in the town of Ball Ground in

Cherokee County Cherokee County is the name of eight counties in the United States: * Cherokee County, Alabama * Cherokee County, Georgia * Cherokee County, Iowa * Cherokee County, Kansas * Cherokee County, North Carolina * Cherokee County, Oklahoma * Cherokee Co ...

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 ...

. The mine, located along 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 1795 ...

, was initially known as the Franklin Mine because it was started by a widow, Mrs. Mary G. Franklin, who obtained a lot in the

Gold Lottery of 1832 The Gold Lottery of 1832 was the seventh lottery of the Georgia Land Lotteries, a lottery system used by the State of Georgia between the years 1805 and 1833 to redistribute stolen Cherokee land. It was authorized by the Georgia General Assembly b ...

. Around 1883, the mine became known as the Creighton Mine or the Franklin-Creighton Mine. This mine was one of the most productive and continued to operate many years after other area mines had ceased operations. Some estimate that it was yielding $1000 per day in 1893 and others place its total production after 1880 at as much as $1,000,000. The mine was shut down in 1913 as a result of a collapsed shaft which caused the mine to flood. As of 2022, only three major structures exist: The stamping mill's concrete foundation (which has been rebuilt into a pavilion for the nearby housing development site), the Franklin residence and doctor's office, and the "Shingle House," the mine's former post office and general store.

Sources

A Brief History of Cherokee County
(accessed December 4, 2006)

(accessed December 4, 2006)

References

External links

U.S. Geological Survey datasheet for the Franklin-Creighton Mine

TopoQuest location
{{coord missing, Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia Gold Rush Georgia Land Lotteries Gold mines in Georgia Buildings and structures in Cherokee County, Georgia Geology of Georgia (U.S. state) 1913 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state)