Monday,
February 7, 2005
6:00 - 7:30 pm
Pellissippi State Technical Community College
10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville
Lamar Alexander Building
Room 223
FEBRUARY PRESENTATION
A Pictorial History
of Gold Mining and Exploration
in the Southeastern U.S.
Travis A. Paris
Rinker Materials South Central, Inc.
Knoxville, Tennessee
Abstract
When gold was
“discovered” in the southeastern U.S. is lost in time.
The native peoples knew of it; DeSoto searched for it; and later
Spanish expeditions may have mined very small quantities. Thomas
Jefferson reported on a nugget found in the Rappahannock River in
1786. Sketchy accounts of gold mining exist from the 1770s, but
regular, well- documented gold mining did not begin until 1802 in
North Carolina. Gold mining has continued, with some
interruptions, to this day at various levels of intensity.
This presentation will be a pictorial essay of the mining history
and exploration for gold to the present day in the southeastern
U.S. using published and unpublished photos of old and recent
mines, processing plants, U.S. mints, maps, and yes! –
southern gold specimens.
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