Explore Reed Gold Mine

Pan for gold and tour the site of the first documented gold find in the U.S.

- Janice Lewine

On a lazy Sunday in 1799, while fishing in Little Meadow Creek on his family’s farm in Cabarrus County, young Conrad Reed found a heavy, shiny rock in the water. E Reeds used it as a doorstop for three years until a jeweler in a Fayetteville market identified it as gold that was worth $3,600. at discovery would forever change the lives of the Reed family.

TOUR THE MINE

Begin your tour at the visitor center, where the mine’s 113-year history unfolds in an impressive exhibit featuring historical photographs and restored excavation equipment. On display are dozens of gold artifacts, including jewelry, coins, place settings, serving spoons and the helmet of an Apollo 17 astronaut, whose gold-coated visor provided protection against thermal radiation.