Alabama Gold: A History of the South's Last Mother Lode - Paperback

by Peggy J. Walls (Author)

Gold rushes in Cleburne and Tallapoosa Counties attracted thousands of miners years before California's famous strike. In 1936, production at the Hog Mountain mine caused Alabama to be recognized as the top producer in the Appalachian states. In Hog Mountain's heyday, a local German settler discovered the precious metal while digging a wine cellar. In Log Pit, unscrupulous speculators shot ore into rock crevices and salted nuggets on land to enhance its sale value. A Cleburne County miner cleaned over eleven pounds of gold and was killed in a free fight all in one day. Join author Peggy Jackson Walls as she traces a century of gold mining in Alabama.

Author Biography

Peggy Jackson Walls earned her BS degree in secondary education at Auburn University in Montgomery and her MA in liberal arts, with a minor in Southern history, at Auburn University. She has taught at Auburn University and the University of Phoenix online, among others. Her article "Gold Mountain at Hog Mining in the 1930s" was published by Alabama Review in 1984. She co-authored Alexander City: Images of America and is published in the 2012 Chinaberries & Crows anthology.