Yahoola Creek runs just north of Dahlonega and played a starring role throughout the rush. By the spring of 1830, contemporary reports claimed thousands of miners were working its bars and benches. Later, as placer gravels dwindled, companies built long water ditches and flumes from the creek’s headwaters to power hydraulic mining across nearby ridges—fueling the so‑called Dahlonega Method. The Yahoola Mine itself occupied lots along the west bank and saw both placer and lode work over many years. Even as industrial plants rose at places like the Consolidated, Yahoola’s waters continued to drive smaller operations and stamp mills in the district. Today, quiet stretches of the stream belie that frenzy, but the creek’s name endures on old maps and in company records as a backbone of Lumpkin County gold mining.