The Dahlonega Gold Museum

The museum fills the 1836 Lumpkin County Courthouse, one of the oldest courthouse buildings in Georgia, right in the middle of the square. Exhibits cover gold coins, nuggets and hydraulic mining equipment, and the museum also tells the Cherokee side of the story, since the gold rush happened on Cherokee land and the pressure from miners fed the push for Cherokee removal.

The U.S. Branch Mint in Dahlonega ran from 1838 to 1861 and coined more than $6 million in gold, marked with a "D." Local lore holds that the courthouse's bricks, made from local clay, contain traces of gold. The National Register of Historic Places rules out an elevator, so some second-floor exhibits aren't wheelchair accessible.

State Parks describes the collection as a complete set of Dahlonega-minted gold coins, a nugget weighing more than five ounces and a large hydraulic cannon, used to blast hillsides apart during the mining boom. A 17-minute film sets the scene before you wander. Upstairs in the old courtroom you'll find wooden chapel seats from 1889 and the judge's chambers, which are part of why the building feels more like a courthouse than a typical museum.

Groups get a break: the park lists group rates of $8.25 for adults, $4.75 for youth and $3.50 for children. There's a gift shop on site, and the visitor center at 13 South Park Street (Dahlonega-Lumpkin County Visitors Bureau, 706-864-3711) can point you to current festival dates and parking.