Barringer Mine
Richfield, Stanly County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Barringer Mine. Gold discovery in 1825 by Mathias Barringer launched the state's subsurface gold mining industry. Site 2 mi. W.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
In 1825 Mathias Barringer struck gold in the quartz veins of what became Stanly County, moving beyond the placer panning that had defined North Carolina's early gold fever. His discovery is credited with launching the state's underground, or lode, gold-mining industry. For decades afterward, shafts and stamp mills spread across the Piedmont in America's first true gold rush.
Why it matters
North Carolina led the nation in gold production before the California rush, and Barringer's strike marks the birth of hard-rock mining in the United States.
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Related people
- · Mathias Barringer
Themes & tags
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