It is unlikely that the Reed gold discovery was the first southern gold discovery mint records and other sources indicate gold was sold from the region before 1802. The news of Reed’s gold spread slowly but generated a substantial gold rush in the southeastern U.S. The largest documented nugget from the Reed Mine was 28 pounds. About a year later, John Reed started mining on the property and continued to do so for several decades. It turned out to be a 17 pound gold nugget that was worth roughly $4,000 at the price of $20.67 per ounce of gold and about $240,000 at today’s gold prices. In 1802, John Reed sold his doorstop to a jeweler for $3.50. Conrad saw something gleaming in the creek and found a shiny rock which he took home to his father, who used it as a doorstop for the next three years. It all started on a Sunday in 1799 when 12-year-old Conrad Reed and some of his siblings were shooting fish with a bow and arrow in Little Meadow Creek, Cabarrus County, North Carolina. This rush took place in the Southeastern U.S., primarily in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, with additional production and activity in Virginia and Alabama. Few are aware that there was an American Gold Rush before the 49ers. Most people have heard of the 49ers and the California Gold Rush.
