Monadnock Moment No. 169

Era 5: Civil War and Reconstruction - 1850 to 1877

The Diamond Ledge Gold Mine

Nearly 20 years after the "Forty-niners" traveled west in the California Gold Rush, a local gold rush of sorts took place in Dublin, New Hampshire. In June of 1867, The New Hampshire Sentinel reported "excitement among the citizens of Dublin over the discovery of a gold mine in the eastern part of the town."

Gold had been discovered the previous autumn and by June two Boston residents, formerly citizens of Dublin, had purchased some fifty acres surrounding the site and began to sink a mine shaft there. By the fall of 1867 specimens of quartz from the mine had been crushed and tested. It was estimated that each ton of quartz would yield $10 worth of gold. The owners indicated that they would form a stock company and begin extensive operations in the spring. It would appear that their plans were not carried out, however, as there is no mention of mining activity in Dublin during the next eight years.

In 1875, however, Moses and Levi Fairbanks, the owners of the mine, renewed their efforts. More specimens were tested and found to contain more than $20 of gold to the ton. A stock company was set up and mining experts were brought in to operate the mine. A boarding house and a sixty by forty foot mill with a separate engine and boiler house were constructed. Modern mining machinery was imported and an eighty foot shaft was sunk. It was determined almost immediately that the quartz extracted was not worth the expense of reducing.

Operations ceased and the mill building was moved to Keene for use as a livery stable. The 80 foot shaft and a road called "Gold Mine road" are all that remain today to remind us of Dublin's mini gold rush.