North of Dahlonega near today’s Helen, Dukes Creek flows through the Nacoochee Valley—long celebrated as the place where gold was first recognized in northeast Georgia around 1828. Early newspaper accounts and later historical markers credit finds on this creek with sparking the wider rush that soon swept Lumpkin and surrounding counties. For years, panners and small crews worked the gravels, and merchants reportedly shipped large sums in gold from the valley. While the richest pockets were soon exhausted, Dukes Creek remains a touchstone of the state’s gold story, and recreational panning continues in the region. Standing on the banks today, it’s easy to imagine the excitement of those first discoveries that led directly to the establishment of Dahlonega as a mining hub—and, in time, to a federal mint built to handle the flow of Georgia gold.