In 1828, gold was discovered in Dahlonega and led to the first major gold rush in the United States in 1829. As many Americans started migrating to Lumpkin County in the early 1830s, the state began seizing Cherokee land and including it in land lotteries.In 1835, the United States government built the Dahlonega Mint, which closed in 1861 and became part of North Georgia College. However, as gold was becoming scarce in the area and with the boom of the California Gold Rush in 1849, many of the Dahlonega miners migrated to the more abundant mines on the west coast. Dahlonega Gold can still be seen today in the bricks of the Dahlonega Gold Museum and even adorning the Georgia State Capitol dome in Atlanta.