Gold and Ghosts: A Halloween Horror Story

Since Friday was Halloween, I have a spooky tale for you.

People say you can hear a woman faintly screaming in the old Reed Gold Mine in Midland, N.C.

Of course, there’s a back story. And it's as creepy as you might imagine.

America's First Gold Rush

Did you know that the first documented gold discovery in the U.S. was in North Carolina, and the state hosted the very first American gold rush in the early 1800s?

It all started in 1799 when 12-year-old Conrad Reed discovered a pretty yellow rock in a creek on his father’s farm. Reed had no clue that he had found a 17-pound gold nugget. Not realizing what they had, the Reed family used the rock as a doorstop for about three years until a Fayetteville jeweler saw the nugget and offered the family $3.50 in exchange for "the rock."

Happy to earn a little coin by selling a rock and probably thinking they’d pulled one over on the crazy jeweler, the family accepted the offer. Unbeknownst to the Reeds, the nugget was worth about $3,500. That's about $92,000 in 2025 dollars.

That horror story is bad enough – but there’s more...

Horror in the Gold Mine

Conrad’s father discovered more gold on the property, and by 1805, North Carolina was in the midst of a full-blown gold rush. The state produced over $1 million worth of gold before the California Gold Rush took the spotlight in 1848.

Conrad’s father, John, developed a partnership with three other men to mine on the property. The partners supplied labor and equipment to dig for gold in the creek bed. Reed provided the land. During the first year of operation, a slave named Peter unearthed a 28-pound nugget. Using only pans and rockers to wash the creek gravel, the part-time miners recovered about $100,000 worth of gold by 1824.

In 1831, Reed and his partners began underground mining on the property.

This is where things get spooky...

Eugene and Eleanor Mills lived on a farm neighboring Reed’s property. According to legend, Eugene and Eleanor got into an argument, and Eleanor fell down the stairs. It’s not quite clear whether it was an accident or if Eugene pushed her. At any rate, Eugene left the house, not realizing the fall had killed his wife. When he returned several hours later, he was horrified to discover his wife’s corpse – still screaming!

In a panic and unable to make the screaming stop, Eugene drug his wife's dead body out of the house and dumped her down a mine shaft near Reed’s property. It is said Eleanor never stopped screaming.

Many people claim they can still hear the woman faintly screaming in the mine.

In 2011, Sandy Harrington captured an image on video she claimed was a ghost.

“I literally saw the ghost jump out with my own eyes and thought it was a visitor who jumped down a mine shaft out of sight, no one never showed up though.”

Even if you don't believe in ghosts, the story is pretty creepy, right?

I mean, selling a huge gold nugget for less than $4... That's scary!

And with that, all of us here at Money Metals wish you a fun and happy Halloween. 

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