Dahlonega, GA

Dahlonega (/dəˈlɒnɪɡə/ də-LON-ig-ə) is the county seat of Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, Dahlonega had a population of 7,537.

Dahlonega is located at the north end of Georgia highway 400, a freeway which connects Dahlonega to Atlanta. The city is also a college town, home to the main campus of the University of North Georgia.

Dahlonega was the site of the second major Gold Rush in the United States beginning in 1829. The Dahlonega Gold Museum Historic Site which is located in the middle of the public square, was originally built in 1836 as the Lumpkin County Courthouse. In 1849, when local gold miners were considering heading west to join the California Gold Rush, Dr. Matthew Fleming Stephenson, the assayer at the Dahlonega Branch Mint, tried to persuade miners to stay in Dahlonega. Standing on the courthouse balcony and pointing at the distant Findley Ridge, Dr. Stephenson was recalled in his speech as saying: “Why go to California? In yonder hill lies more riches than anyone ever dreamed of. There’s millions in it,” This phrase was repeated by those miners who did make the journey to California and was shared in the mining camps of the west. Years later, the young Samuel Clemens, better known as the author Mark Twain, also heard of Stephenson’s phrase. Twain was so enthralled by the phrase “There’s Millions In It,” that he used it frequently in his book The Gilded Age. Over time, the phrase has been misquoted to the better-known “Thar’s gold in them thar hills.”