Gold Hill, also known as Goldhill, Gold Mine, or Gold Ridge, is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

north-centrally located in Lee County,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, United States, just a few hundred feet south of the Chambers County line. It is part of the Columbus, Georgia-Alabama Metropolitan Area. Today, Gold Hill lies mostly in the corporate limits of Auburn.

History

Gold Hill was settled in the 1830s, and—despite being in the southern reaches of the territory mined for

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

in the 1840s Alabama

Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

—was not named for the mineral, but rather for an early settler named Goldsmith. In the 1870s, Gold Hill received a second name, Gold Ridge, after confusion between the railroad stops at Gold Hill and nearby Camp Hill led the

postal administration This is a list of postal entities by country. It includes: *The governmental authority responsible for postal matters. *The Regulatory agency, regulatory authority for the postal sector. Postal regulation may include the establishment of postal ...

to rename the Gold Hill

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

. Despite being "officially" considered Gold Ridge by the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

and the railroad, residents have always considered the community to be only Gold Hill. Gold Hill is also the location of "Roamer's Roost", the home of

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

scientist William P. Spratling and his son, silversmith

William Spratling William Spratling (September 22, 1900 – August 7, 1967) was an American-born silver designer and artist, best known for his influence on 20th century Mexican silver design. Early life Spratling was born in 1900 in Sonyea, Livingston Count ...

. A post office operated under the name Gold Hill from 1837 to 1967.

The Old Barn

There was an old barn in Gold Hill which stood for 140 years. It was located adjacent to the railroad crossing on Alabama State Route 147. The building was erected in 1870 and served as the community's

general store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

. During most of its history, the barn which housed the general store was connected to about of farmland. The store, and the farms that surrounded it operated much in the same way all the way up until the 1940s. Following The Great Migration, many of the field laborers left the area to begin new lives in northern cities such as

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

and

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

. This left the community a shell of its former self. Eventually, the store closed down and the mail trains didn't make stops in "Gold Ridge" anymore (to this day, the mail is still delivered to the community from the post office in

Waverly, Alabama Waverly is a town in Chambers and Lee counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is part of the Auburn Metropolitan Area. It was incorporated in 1910. As of 2010, the town population was 145. Waverly has an operating United States post office; ...

). Despite this, the barn stood as Gold Hill's most recognizable landmark until it was torn down in 2010. Image: GoldHillAlabama.JPG, The old barn near the railroad crossing was, perhaps, Gold Hill, Alabama's most recognizable landmark until it was torn down in 2010. Image:GoldHillAlabamaBarn.JPG, The old barn from another angle. Image:FRONT (WEST) AND NORTH SIDE - James Ellington House, Oak Bowery Road vicinity, Gold Hill, Lee County, AL HABS ALA,41-GOLD,1-2.tif, The historic James Ellington House is located in Gold Hill. Image:GoldRidgeAlabama.JPG, Gold Hill received a second name, "Gold Ridge", after confusion between the railroad stops at Gold Hill and nearby Camp Hill. Image:GoldHillAlabamaClearedTrees.JPG, Trees and sky in Gold Hill, Alabama.

References

*Nunn, Alexander (Ed.) (1983). ''Lee County and Her Forebears''. Montgomery, Ala., Herff Jones. LCCCN 83-081693 *Williams, Ed. "A Visit to Gold Hill, Alabama." Ed Williams' Homepage. August 8 2003. Auburn University. March 20 200

{{Short description, Unincorporated community in Alabama, United States Unincorporated communities in Alabama Unincorporated communities in Lee County, Alabama Auburn, Alabama Columbus metropolitan area, Georgia