Excavating the Yahoola High Trestle: Spanning Past and Present in Dahlonega, Georgia

Summary

Archival research and subsequent test excavations at the site where the Yahoola High Trestle once stood in Dahlonega, Georgia, has explored the construction, use, and abandonment of an important component of America’s first gold rush. This structure supplied high-pressure water to hydraulic mining operations in the area, facilitating sophisticated mining techniques to extract gold from the surrounding landscape. This paper presents the results of archival research and archaeological testing conducted in 2015 and 2016 by student volunteers and members of the local community. The results of these excavations suggest that the trestle was likely not the imposing structure it was originally intended to be and that it was likely disassembled for scrap after it became obsolete. Regardless, the construction and operation of the trestle helped shape the developing economy in rural north Georgia during the mid- to late-nineteenth century.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15541