Reed Gold Mine
The Reed Gold Mine is located in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, and is the site of the first documented gold find in the United States.
In 1799, Conrad Reed, the son of farmer and former Hessian soldier John Reed (né Johannes Reith), found a large yellow "rock" in Little Meadow Creek on the family farm in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. For three years, the rock served as a bulky doorstop. In 1802, however, a (dishonest) jeweler in Fayetteville identified the rock as a large gold nugget and bought it from the unwitting John Reed and Family for $3.50; the nugget's true value was, in all likelihood, over $3,000.
About 1803, John Reed organized a small gold mining operation. A 28 pound (10.5 kg) nugget was discovered not long afterward. Placer mining continued for a number of years, and underground mining began in 1831. The last underground mining activity at the Reed occurred in 1912, and the last large nugget uncovered by placer mining was discovered in 1896.
John Reed died rich in 1845. Some years later, the American Civil War led activity at the mine to decrease.
Today, the mine is a state historic site and is open to the public. Visitors can tour a museum with extensive information about North Carolina gold mining, and can walk through several hundred feet of restored mine tunnels.
The Charlotte Mint was eventually founded in nearby Charlotte, North Carolina to handle the large amount of gold found in the region and state throughout the 1800s and in to the early 1900s.