Historic Sites in Lumpkin County

The history of Lumpkin County

Lumpkin County was created on December 3, 1832, from Cherokee lands in the north Georgia mountains and named for Wilson Lumpkin, the sitting governor, who also served as a U.S. congressman and senator. Gold found in the area in 1828 and 1829 set off the nation's first major gold rush, drawing thousands of prospectors known as "Twenty-Niners," first to the camp of Auraria and then to Dahlonega, which became the county seat. The town's name comes from a Cherokee word describing the yellow color of gold. The rush was one of the major forces behind Cherokee Removal, and in 1838 the Cherokee were expelled from their ancestral lands. A branch of the U.S. Mint operated at Dahlonega until the Civil War began in 1861, turning out over $6 million in gold coins. In 1861 local volunteers organized the Blue Ridge Rifles as Company E of Phillips' Legion. After the war the former mint building became home to North Georgia Agricultural College; the building burned in 1878, but its foundations still support campus offices of the school now known as the University of North Georgia. Gold from Lumpkin County was later used to gild the dome of the state capitol in Atlanta. The 1836 Lumpkin County Courthouse on Dahlonega's square has been restored and now houses the Dahlonega Gold Museum.

Sources: georgiaencyclopedia.orggeorgiaencyclopedia.orgen.wikipedia.org