Conrad Reed Found Doorstop Gold

In 1799, a 12-year-old boy named Conrad Reed found a 17-pound yellow rock in Little Meadow Creek on his family’s farm in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. His family did not realize it was gold, so they used the nugget as a doorstop for several years. In 1802, his father, John Reed, took it to a jeweler and sold it for just $3.50. The discovery became the first documented gold find in the United States and helped spark North Carolina’s early gold rush.

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