Abstract:
In 1799, the first documented gold strike in the nation occurred at John Reed's farm twenty miles east of Charlotte. As the news spread, gold seekers poured in, transforming sleepy Charlotte into a boomtown. In the 1820s, the state produced all of the native gold coined by the U.S. Mint, over a million dollars. By 1849, the gold seekers were heading for California, and the boom faded. Today the John Reed Gold Mine, a National Historic Landmark and State Historic Site, is the state's third-most visited historic site.