Georgia Treasure Stories

[Westernlegend1]

Forsyth County

Just Another Day​

James Vann was a chief of the Cherokees and he loved to kill the whitemen for their intrusion upon the Cherokee lands. He was wealthy and an owner of slaves, he owned several prime pieces of property. One was a plantation at Spring Place, a tavern and farm at Hightower, some gold mines at Dahlonega and even a ferry on the Chattahoochee River. He was ruthless and cruel in the treatment of even his fellow Indians. Seeing as how he owned several good money making properties, it was nothing out of the ordinary for him to transport large amounts of gold dust, nuggets and even money as he traveled between his land holdings. A couple of weeks before he was shot to death, he had almost $40,000 said to be in gold dust which was contained in a chest. This he took to his farm at Hightower and ordered a couple of Negroes to carry down to the river bottoms and bury under a large tree, once done he shot and killed them both, then he went home. This was all in a day’s business for James Vann, shortly after this he was shot and killed and the chest of gold was never found. It is believed that he had several caches hidden elsewhere on his land holdings which were also not recovered after his death.

Photos Included:​

A map of Forsyth County with Hightower marked with a red dot, a google map shows some detail for the area of Hightower. This building is said to have been the tavern once located at Vann’s Ferry on the Chattahoochee River, but it has since been moved to New Echota, the National Cherokee Capital.

 

[Westernlegend1]

Gwinnett County

Duluth’s Pots Of Gold​

An old Cherokee trail once ran thru the region, it was called the Old Peachtree Road. The War of 1812, caused a need to extend the road to connect Fort Peachtree (Atlanta) to Fort Daniel in Lawrenceville. This caused an influx of white settlers, which helped bring about the removal of the Cherokees. When they were forced to leave, the Cherokees are according to stories, supposed to have buried 5 pots containing gold. The site selected was along one of the old Indian trails. There are stories involving the discovery of three of the pots of gold. One was supposedly discovered by a farmer plowing his field. Two others are claimed to have been dug up by Indians who returned to recover them. This leaves two still in the ground, which have not been found. There is little doubt that people have hunted for them for years. Someday another one of them will be discovered, when this happens the search for the last one will be renewed with vigor!

Photos Included:​

A map of Gwinnett County, a red dot marks the location of Duluth, a photo included shows some of the scenery of the area. Could the pots of missing gold be somewhere in the picture?

 

[searcher64]

Was deer hunting in the North GA Mts in the 1960's and found a hole that looked like a wood barrel had been in it. Did not have MD then, I wish I could go back now and check. Privet property now.

 

[Westernlegend1]

Banks County

A Reported Hidden Cache​

Little is known at this time about the following reported cache in Northern Banks County, but there are local stories that have been told for some time now concerning a buried pot of gold coins which are located on some farm land to the south of Baldwin. Looking around the internet, at the region of Baldwin, many folks are employed in the Chicken Industry, which means the area was most likely rural many years ago. This supports to some degree the cache being claimed on the land of a farmer. Some mention of the past landowner’s name is known, it was said to be a farm once owned by a man named Phagan. If this is still owned by the same family or another person, could be determined by doing some local researching. One could only guess at the size of the cache, it might not be all that big.

Photos Included:​

Several photos showing where Baldwin is located at, it appears to be on or near the county line. Being reported as south of Baldwin, would place the farm site in Banks County.

 

[Westernlegend1]

Bacon County

Leroy A Ghost Town​

The town one known as Leroy, is yet another listed ghost town, this one is in Bacon County, which was formed around 1914. The town of Leroy does appear on some old maps dated from the early 1900’s to the one shown dated 1914. Currently the internet does not have much on the town of Leroy today. This should be another out of the way place forgotten over time, and might be worth checking out.

Photo Included:​

An old black and white map from 1914 shows the correct location of the old town site, other sources gave directions from a known location, which when I looked into it, were completely wrong.

 

[luv2hunt]

Slots On The Banks

Chattahoochee County

Fort Bennings River Bank Caches​

This army base has its tales of treasure within its boundaries. Back in 1901, while working the Chattahoochee River, a dredge spewed out a large number of silver dollars. These are believed to have once been on a riverboat that had sunk many years ago. In 1962, a jug of old coins was discovered on the banks of the same river. And once more in 1970, a group of soldiers while training found yet another jug of old coins near the river bank. What else lies buried along the old river in Georgia?

Hi, I live within miles of Ft. Benning and there have been many stories about finding coins on the river bank. I'm not sure of your time frame but when Pheniix city Alabama which is right next to Columbus Ga and Ft. Benning was know as SIN CITY back in the 1940 and 50's, there were gambling and murders everyhere and then there was the battle to clean up the city. When the city was cleaned up they threw alot of the slot machines still filled with coins in the river. When the river was dredged off of victory drive quite a few years back, people were finding old slot machines and old coins in the soil that was piled up on the banks. If you have not heard of the Phenix city story you may find it intresting to look it up and read about it. It was very bad and all about money and mafia style gangters. See ya, Dwayne

 

[Westernlegend1]

Burke County

Drone A Ghost Town Site​

This one is located at the junction of the Brown-Bentley Road and Georgia hwy. 24 W, it does appear on maps dating from the 1890’s. The google satellite zoom feature shows no buildings exist here anymore. There are some fields and woods in the area, it would be my guess that some foundation ruins exist, if one was to search for them. The fields once plowed should have broken pieces of pottery and brick, and maybe even some glass to give indications of where buildings once were located at. The location should produce Confederate as well as Union relics from the Civil War. Large numbers of Union troops advanced thru the region on Sherman’s March to the Sea. Prior to this Burke County, raised Company E of Cobb’s Legion (also known as Poythress Volunteers). This should be a good Civil War relic and artifact site.

Photos Included:​

A map of Burke County with a red dot marking the location of Drone, a Georgia ghost town, the google image shows some of the modern road network, and if use will provide directions to reach the site. A satellite image of the location has been just added.

 

[Westernlegend1]

Miller County

Eugene? ​

The title is a fitting one once I started the search for Eugene, a listed ghost town in Miller County. The one source I have claims this town is a listed ghost town and was located on a railroad line near the northern county line. But the internet does not have anything I could find so far concerning the old town. My main source lists it, and given just this simple fact it most likely dates back to before 1900, could it have been around during the Civil War? Maybe the site has some hidden surprises seeing as little is known about it.

Photo Included:​

A map of Miller County with a mark placed in the general location of this little known ghost town.

 

[GeorgiaJay]

This site has 3 lost treasure stories in North Georgia. It contains maps, details, and some other information.

http://ngeorgia.com/travel/losttreasures.html

This is a really interesting site that list over 20 different ghost towns in Georgia. It also has maps and pics of the ghost towns that were submitted by different people.

http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/ga/ga.html

 

[Westernlegend1]

In time I'll have a couple hundred ghost towns posted for Georgia.

Gordon County

The Ryo Site​

Ryo is considered a ghost town today, it is located at the intersection of Fairmount Highway South-East and Pearl Johnson Road South-East. The small field to the east of this intersection is the actual town site. The land here was at one time occupied by the Cherokee Indians and the possibility exists that some of their gold might be in the area. Looking the site over with google’s satellite zoom feature, it appears nothing remains of the old town, but the area does have a few more modern structures.

Photos Included:​

A map of Gordon County with a mark placed in the region of Ryo, a google image shows some detail of the location and will provide directions to reach this ghost town site. A satellite image has now been added.

 

[Westernlegend1]

Banks County

The Jewelville Site​

This town is listed as Jewellville or Jewelville, it is located at the intersection of Martin Bridge Road and 51. Back in 1900 it had a population of 103 residents, today little remains of the old town site. It might be worth checking out with your metal detector.

Photos Included:​

A map of Banks County with a red dot marking the location of this Georgia ghost town, a google satellite view provides some details of the site.

 

[Westernlegend1]

I have updated the Georgia ghost towns listed so far where possible with satellite images of the actual locations.

 

[Westernlegend1]

Baker County

Mimsville Is Gone​

Baker County was formed back in 1825 or so, Mimsville appears on maps up until at least 1890. But today is a listed ghost town location, there appears to be nothing left of the site according to the satellite view, this could be very good for someone wanting to check a site out that might not have been hunted before. From all appearances this ghost town site looks like it is well worth checking out.

Photos Included:​

A map of Baker County with a red dot marking the old town’s location, a google map shows a road network, but the roads are unnamed. The satellite image shows a site void of any evidence that a town was once located here.

 

[Westernlegend1]

Irwin County

The Land Of Reason​

Looks like I picked a tough one this time, checking for info on the town once named Reason, I discovered that there isn’t any mention of it that I could find on the internet. I choose Reason due to a mention in another source as a listed ghost town. It was said to be a couple of miles to the south of Ocilla, which seems to have became the county seat sometime after 1895. Ocilla also appears to have under gone a name change and was once spelled Ocala. Could Reason have been a town that was destroyed during the Civil War? Or was it established sometime after 1895, for it isn’t on the map from that year either. Supposedly Reason was located on a railroad which appears to have been removed in the past. Well anyway on with the maps!

Photos Included:​

A map of Irwin County with a mark placed in the general location of the town once called Reason, a google map shows the road network in the area a few miles south of Ocilla, Georgia. A satellite image (which I have expanded a bit) shows a couple of spots which could have been the site of this mysterious town from the past.

 

[Westernlegend1]

Wilkinson County

Bloodworth​

Bloodworth seems like an interesting place just going by its name, so I started to look it up. I discovered it isn’t on the old maps I normally use and nothing was on the internet either. I used google and did a search in the rough general area it is suppose to be at. I discovered that there was a road named West Youngblood Road. I’m willing to bet the town was once located in this area. Otherwise details concerning this old town are unknown. Looking at the satellite view it appears like a good hunt site.

Photos Included:​

A portion of map of Wilkinson County with a mark placed in the general region of this ghost town site, a google map of the area I found where I believe it was at. A satellite view shows this area as it appears today.

 

[SilentE]

Wilkes County

A Rainey Night In Georgia​

In 1865, a group of bankers from Richmond, Virginia loaded the money from the bank in Washington, Georgia onto some wagons to transport it to Richmond. The evening of the first day they made camp at the Chenault Plantation. That night under cover of a rain storm a group of robbers took the money and carried it off. This opportunity must have been a chance of a lifetime and not planned ahead to any degree. Confederate forces discovered around $75,000 which was tossed, most likely due to no way to transport it. They say the Negro’s shacks were searched and another $10,000 or so was taken back that they had hid. One can only imagine the punishment they suffered for this crime against their white masters, for at this point in time they were not yet free from bondage. The remainder of the loot was never found and amounts to over $100,000. Could it be buried somewhere in the area surrounding the Chenault Plantation? Chances are the robbers made sure they were not caught with the money because the price for treason would have been their lives.

Photos Included:​

A map of Wilkes County with a red “X” marking the location of the Chenault Plantation, and a photo of the plantation today. The plantation is currently for sale, they are advertising the disappearing Confederate gold as a selling point. The last picture is of a rural road in Wilkes County, did the robbers head down a road such as this one and bury the loot?

This is right in my backyard. In fact Im at work in Washington, Ga as I type.

 

[Westernlegend1]

Camden County

A Civil War Hoard​

There are stories that claim that near the end of the war, with the approach of Federal forces, a large amount of gold and silver was buried by the South in the area of Kingsland. Supposedly the cache has never been found and is still out there.

Photos Included:​

A map of Camden County with a mark placed in the region of Kingsland, a satellite view shows the area in which the hidden hoard is claimed to be located in.

 

[Westernlegend1]

Coffee County

Phillips Mill​

Phillips Mill was at least listed as a town at one time in Coffee County, the site does show on older maps, but looking on the internet next to nothing comes up anymore for the location. Doing some google map checking, I believe I have located the most likely location of this lost site.

Photos Included:​

A portion of map for Coffee County with a red dot marking its known location back around 1890. A google map shows local details for where I believe it is at, the satellite image shows some woods near a large pond, this could be the lost site of Phillips Mill.

 

[Westernlegend1]

Upson County

Roland​

Roland is what I would consider a ghost town location in Upson County, I found it while looking for another location. During the Civil War, Upson County was targeted by Federal forces which were sent out to destroy as much of the area as possible, in order to cause a lack of food and industrial products which were going to support the Southern cause. The area of Roland could very well have relics and lost caches of valuables from this period of history.

Photos Included:​

A map of Upson County with a mark placed in the general area of Roland, a satellite image shows the area as it appears today.

 

[TN Ninja Digger]

Upson County

Roland​

Roland is what I would consider a ghost town location in Upson County, I found it while looking for another location. During the Civil War, Upson County was targeted by Federal forces which were sent out to destroy as much of the area as possible, in order to cause a lack of food and industrial products which were going to support the Southern cause. The area of Roland could very well have relics and lost caches of valuables from this period of history.

Photos Included:​

A map of Upson County with a mark placed in the general area of Roland, a satellite image shows the area as it appears today.

Anyone from around here check out the old house that comes up in the search of the area.

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/6884672