Visiting Georgia's Gold Town of Dahlonega by Ruth Paget

Visiting Georgia’s Gold Town of Dahlonega by Ruth Paget

On a pre-hurricane Helene trip to Georgia, my husband Laurent and I drove to Georgia’s gold town of Dahlonega high up in the Appalachian Mountains to visit the Gold Museum downtown. 

Dahlonega feels surprisingly close to Atlanta. To get there from Smyrna on Atlanta’s north side, you take 285 East to 19 North. 

You pass over two rivers on the way to Dahlonega – the Etowah River and the Chestatee River. When you reach Chestatee Road, you make a left turn from 19 North and arrive directly downtown. 

The Gold Museum is small, but highly informative. 

One of the first things you learn in the museum is that gold began being mined in Dahlonega in 1829, a full 20 years before the California Gold Rush. 

The gold region, which extends from today’s northeastern border of Georgia to northeastern Alabama was mostly occupied by Cherokee Native Americans. To make way for mining operations, the Cherokee were removed from their lands and forcibly made to walk westward, the Trail of Tears, to be resettled in Oklahoma. 

Once the Cherokee lands were available for mining, a lottery was held which gave the lucky winner the right to own and set up mining operations. People who did not get land in the lottery received blank lottery tickets and were said “to draw a blank.” 

People who wanted to mine gold, but drew a blank are rumored to have left Georgia for the California Gold Rush in 1849, 

Georgia’s gold is still highly sought, because it is 96% pure. The state capitol’s dome is sheathed in shimmering Georgia gold. For smaller investors, there are coins with the Eagle gold coins still providing good returns according to the museum guide. 

The gold mines in Dahlonega are closed today. The town is now famous for orchards, wine tasting, and the University of North Georgia. 

For a pleasant outing about an hour outside Atlanta, Dahlonega (Georgia) has history, culture, and food that will appeal to visitors from Western United States as well as the Eastern Seaboard. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Visiting Kennesaw Mountain Civil War Battlefield outside Atlanta, Georgia by Ruth Paget

Visiting Kennesaw Mountain Civil War Battlefield outside Atlanta, Georgia by Ruth Paget 

The Kennesaw Mountain Civil War Battlefield is located about half an hour north of Atlanta, Georgia off I-75. 

Kennesaw Mountain has become a “swords into ploughshares” recreation area in the modern day. If you do not arrive early on the weekend (around 7:30 am), you most probably will have to park ½ mile to a mile away from the base of the mountain to access the hiking and biking trail. The track team from nearby Kennesaw State University runs easily up and down the mountain, making you feel really old. 

Before Kennesaw Mountain became a favorite wooded refuge for Atlanta dwellers, it was the site of highly contested battle between the Confederacy’s General Joseph E. Johnson and the Union’s William Tecumseh Sherman on June 27, 1864. The Union suffered losses of 3,000 troops and the Confederacy suffered losses of 1,000 troops on that day. 

The decisive moment in the battle came when General George Stoneman’s cavalry division put Union troops close to the Chattahoochee River that protected the city of Atlanta. Breaching that river would make it easy to enter Atlanta. 

Kennesaw Mountain has become such a nice park that it is difficult to imagine war there, but it is worth noting that it is still one of Atlanta’s natural defenses to this day as one of several hills surrounding Atlanta along with the Chattahoochee River. 

Locals would also say that the kudzu plant, which can take over buildings in the South’s sweltering heat, is also a natural defense. Kudzu had not been introduced from Japan yet during the time of the Civil War. Today, this plant with its glossy leaves would be slick to deal with in the rain for hill and mountain fighting and might even change battle outcomes. 

This is speculation, of course, but it does explain why battle re-enactments are an educational exercise worth doing due to new environmental conditions and technological advances particularly in communication. 

The battle re-enactments need analysis and knowledge management to make sure war outcomes remain the same. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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