{"nrhp_refnum":"66000587","name":"Reed Gold Mine","other_names":["Reed Gold Mine Site"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"11 mi. SE of Concord","address_restricted":false,"city":"Concord","county":"Cabarrus County","state":"NC","lat":35.28319080800006,"lon":-80.45883356678381,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1966-05-23","areas_of_significance":["Industry","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic gold mining site on Little Meadow Creek, about 11 miles southeast of Concord in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. It includes tunnels, shafts, foundations and the remains of the John Reed farm, and is owned by the State of North Carolina.","why_significant":"Gold discovered in 1799 on John Reed's farm led to the earliest documented gold mining operation in the present United States and to the nation's first gold rush. Until 1828 all native gold coined by the U.S. Mint came from North Carolina, largely from Cabarrus and neighboring counties. The Appalachian gold fields created a new industry and trained miners who later worked in the West.","narrative":"Reed Gold Mine lies in low hills and wooded bottom land along Little Meadow Creek, about 11 miles southeast of Concord, North Carolina. In 1799 twelve-year-old Conrad Reed found a heavy yellow rock on his father John Reed's farm; it was later recognized as gold. Mining began in 1803, first with panning and rockers in the creek sands, then with shafts, stamp mills and Chilean mills. Word of the profits drew thousands of prospectors and set off the country's first gold rush. Through 1828 all native gold coined by the U.S. Mint came from North Carolina. The mine changed hands many times, and large nuggets were found as late as 1896. It closed by 1903. Today tunnels, some 20 shafts and building foundations remain, and only two buildings from about 1905 survive. The State of North Carolina bought the land in 1971 to develop it as a historic and recreation area.","period_of_significance":"1799, 1803-1903","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Mining ended by 1903. Most equipment was sold for scrap during World War II. The State acquired 822 acres in 1971 and began developing a historic and recreation area; only two buildings from about 1905 survive.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:58.484204-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/61/7187/47718761/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/66000581_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000587/e59d23eca4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000587/e59d23eca4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Bang-Ning Hsu from Durham (NC, USA), Taiwan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ReedGoldMine.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Bang-Ning Hsu from Durham (NC, USA), Taiwan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ReedGoldMine.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":null,"wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed_Gold_Mine","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7306649"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/cabarrus-county/reed-gold-mine-66000587/"}