GeorgiaThe old Lumpkin County Courthouse on the Dahlonega square was raised in 1836, its locally fired brick made from clay that carries trace gold, and it is the oldest surviving courthouse building in Georgia. It went up at the height of the nation's first true gold rush, which began after Benjamin Parks reportedly stumbled on gold-laced rock in 1828 and drew thousands of prospectors into what was still Cherokee Nation land, hastening the Cherokee removal that followed. North Carolina builder Ephraim Clayton was contracted for the work, and for the next century the courtroom heard the disputes of a rough mining district, from stolen livestock to contested gold claims, while a United States branch mint operated nearby stamping Dahlonega gold into coin. The building served county government from 1836 until 1965, after which the state restored it and reopened it as the Dahlonega Gold Museum State Historic Site, interpreting the Georgia Gold Rush. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
Lumpkin County Courthouse
The stone-and-brick heart of every Georgia county.
Lumpkin County Courthouse is a courthouse in Dahlonega, Lumpkin County. It is one of 39 historic sites cataloged in Lumpkin County on Georgia Roam.
The site sits at 34.5290, -83.9758 near Dahlonega. The nearest cataloged historic site is Madeleine Kiker Anthony (historical marker), about 0.2 miles away. Others within a short drive include Stamp Mill, Seven Oaks, and Findley Ridge.
This record is drawn from the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
The old Lumpkin County Courthouse on the Dahlonega square was raised in 1836, its locally fired brick made from clay that carries trace gold, and it is the oldest surviving courthouse building in Georgia. It went up at the height of the nation's first true gold rush, which began after Benjamin Parks reportedly stumbled on gold-laced rock in 1828 and drew thousands of prospectors into what was still Cherokee Nation land, hastening the Cherokee removal that followed. North Carolina builder Ephraim Clayton was contracted for the work, and for the next century the courtroom heard the disputes of a rough mining district, from stolen livestock to contested gold claims, while a United States branch mint operated nearby stamping Dahlonega gold into coin. The building served county government from 1836 until 1965, after which the state restored it and reopened it as the Dahlonega Gold Museum State Historic Site, interpreting the Georgia Gold Rush. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
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