UPDATE APRIL 2025: McCulloch Castle & Gold Mill auction was put on hold. Current owners remain! Bravo! Read HERE.
ORIGINAL POST, FEB 2025: The impending auction of McCulloch Castle and Gold Mill, 3925 Kivett Dr, Jamestown, NC 27282, has sparked renewed interest in Jamestown’s gold mining past and metamorphic treasures. The entrance to the historic property is across the street from the Kersey and GFL landfills, which sit atop former mining operations.
The map on the left (below) is from a post by historian Charles Rodenbough – about the Jamestown/Deep River gold mining district. The present day map on the right shows McCulloch Castle’s location, at the end of a long driveway in the woods; the entrance is on Kivett Drive, across from the landfills. The tan-shaded area to the right (east) of the McCulloch site is the massive Martin Marietta Granite Quarry on Riverdale Drive, Jamestown 27282. APAC Asphalt (not shown on the map) is between McCulloch Castle and Riverdale Road.
The U.S. Dept of the Interior’s National Register documentation describes McCulloch Mill as a “Chilean mill” that served the numerous gold and copper mines of southwest Guilford County during the 1830s-1860s. After the easily accessible gold had been removed from the mines, the miners experimented with techniques to remove gold from the hard quartz veins that cross Jamestown in a northeasterly direction. Most of the techniques involved crushing the quartz (hence the mill) and then removing the gold through panning or mercury amalgamation.
The map image on the left (below) shows the veins the miners were working in 1838. The present day map image on the right shows two dozen known gold and copper-bearing quartz veins in the Jamestown District. Both images are from Robert Moye’s August 2023 very informative and interesting report, “Lost Mines: Quartz vein hosted Au-Cu (gold and copper) of the Jamestown District, Southwest Guilford County.” (these are best viewed on a laptop – click to enlarge):
Quartz ore was crushed at the McCulloch mill, which was powered by a steam engine that used water diverted from Copper Branch. [Copper Branch flows across the site west to east before crossing Riverdale Drive and emptying into Deep River. Go here and scroll down to see maps and more on Copper Branch, HERE.)
Locals may recall being taught about the geology of the “Carolina Slate Belt.” Today, this geologic wonderland that runs from Georgia to Central Virginia is called the “Carolina Terrane.” Jamestown’s quartz veins place Jamestown within the northernmost sliver of the gold ore-rich “Charlotte” Terrane.
The Jamestown gold mining industry was short lived, but the veins are still here. Our streams and soil are home to a crazy variety of metamorphic rocks, quartz, metals, minerals and crystals. But that’s about as scientific as I’m going to get. Identifying rocks and minerals is best left to the experts, especially in a terrane such as ours where ancient underground folds mean the stones you dig up in one yard could be entirely different than the stones you find in the neighborhood creek. And iron deposits mean you have to be able to see beyond the red crust that covers many of these local earthly treasures.
But if you live in Jamestown and you’re a rockhound or prospector at heart (like me), then you’ve struck it rich. Here are some of my favorite finds and my non-scientific labels, all collected in my Jamestown yard and creek since 2018. [Important: Deep River, Bull Run and Copper Branch are all Class IV water supply streams and Waters of the United States (WOTUS), which means they belong to you, the PUBLIC — but don’t trespass on anyone’s PRIVATE property to get to the water.]
The images below are presented as slideshows, so be sure to click on the arrow or swipe left to advance through the photos.
The Little Crystals. These are my favorites – especially the one that’s faceted like an emerald-cut and looks like it’s ready to drop into a setting. I was told by a group of gemologists at a show in Raleigh that it’s white topaz. The others could be that, too, or citrine. Remember to SWIPE LEFT:
Gold-bearing quartz? Some of it’s pyrite, chalcopyrite, maybe nickel, but every now and then there’s a tiny bit of beautiful, unmistakeable shiny mellow yellow.
The greens. I find a LOT of green – especially like this, in a golden brown matrix of some kind. Maybe epidote? Look at these beautiful structures and bands:
Misqualaneous. Striped quartz, quartz teeth, tortoise quartz, quartz face, sushi quartz. My names, not the real names. All from my woodsy Jamestown yard and creek,
Hottie. This one is pretty amazing. It’s slightly magnetic, has a glassy, bubbly surface like a lava bomb or … meteorite? If it’s lava, I guess that proves the theory that the Carolina Terrane sits atop an ancient volcano arc. Found it in a curve in our creek:
Chasper. Chert? Jasper? I don’t know, but these are so cool. The orangish/brown stone has the coldness, weight and clinky sound of marble. It’s unlike any rock we’ve found here (or anywhere, for that matter). My husband found it under tree roots in the bank of our creek.
Mr. Moonie. Another solo stand-out. Check out the video below the slideshow – and watch how this mysterious rock reacts to a magnet.
MORE below:
