In 1799, twelve year-old Conrad Reed of Cabarrus County found a seventeen-pound gold nugget in a streambed. It was the first discovery of gold in the United States, and within a few years, his father owned a mine that made him a wealthy man. Throughout the region, mines were dug, and men came from across the country — and from Europe — to work them. The nation’s first gold rush was on. In this chapter, you’ll learn about the Reed family, the lives of the men who came to work in the mines, and the impact gold had on North Carolina’s society and economy.

Section Contents

• The North Carolina Gold Rush
• The Reed Gold Mine
• From the North Carolina Gold-Mine Company
• Minting Gold into Coins
• The Workings of a Gold Mine