Making Millions: The Bechtler Mint Site / Sharing the Bechtler Story & Other Great Tales

Making Millions: The Bechtler Mint Site, also, Sharing the Bechtler Story and Other Great Tales. . Making Millions: The Bechtler Mint Site It was on this site from 1831 to 1840 that Christopher Bechtler operated the nation's most successful private mint, turning raw gold into nearly $3 million in coins and ingots. , A talented inventor, gunsmith and jeweler, the German immigrant Christopher Bechtler arrived in Rutherford County in 1830 at the height of the North Carolina Gold Rush. , He soon purchased this land in the gold-mining region of the foothills and resumed his lifelong search for gold. , When local gold miners persuaded him to open a private mint, a new chapter in North Carolina history was written. , To learn more about this site, follow the park trails. , To learn more about the Bechtlers, visit www.VisitNCGold.com , To find sites where you can pan for gold, see other Bechtler exhibits, and help us enhance this site and share the Bechtlers's story, see the other side of this panel. , Sharing the Bechtler Story and Other Great Tales , A Vision for the Mint Site… The Friends of Bechtler Committee is working with many partners to make future improvements to this site. To join the Friends or to make a contribution to the site development project, visit www.Visit NCGold.com , More about the Bechtler story can be found at these locations in Rutherfordton: The Bechtler House Visitor Center, 130 West Sixth Street . Heritage Exhibit, County Office Building, 289 North Main Street . Heritage Exhibit, Rutherfordton Town Hall, 129 North Main Street , To pan for gold in Rutherford County: Historic 1830's Thermal City Gold Mine, U.S. Hwy. 221 North . The Broad River Gem Company and Mine Museum, U.S. Hwy. 64 West . Chimney Rock Gem Mine, 397 Main Street, Chimney Rock , Experience Rutherford County's Incredible History and Heritage , . Bostic Lincoln Center Explore the oral tradition which holds that Abraham Lincoln was born in Rutherford County. , . Cherry Bounce Trail A driving trail of the sites and beauty surrounding the area where Amos Owens made his famous “Cherry Bounce” alcoholic beverage. , . Chimney Rock State Park Named after its iconic 530 million-year-old monolith, Chimney Rock State Park is also home to Hickory Nut Falls. , . The Genealogical Society of Old Tryon County Trace your family tree in the state's second-largest genealogical library. , . Overmountain Victory Trail National Historic Driving Trail follows the route of the patriots to the Battle of Kings Mountain, with several important stops in Rutherford County. , . Rutherfordton Main Street St. John's Historic 1848 Church and the antebellum home cluster. , . Washburn's General Store Established in 1831 –the same year as Bechtler's Mint –it is known as North Carolina's oldest continuously run, family-owned and operated retail business. The estate was deemed a historic district in 2002 by the National Department of the Interior. , For more information about all this and more great museums like Bennett Classics Auto Museum, Rutherford County Farm Museum, Ellenboro Train Depot Museum, and others, go to www.VisitNCSmallTowns.com