Gold Hill, Alabama | |
|---|---|
  Gold Hill  Gold Hill | |
| Coordinates:32°43′18″N85°30′28″W / 32.72167°N 85.50778°W /32.72167; -85.50778 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alabama |
| County | Lee |
| Elevation | 735 ft (224 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (CST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-6 (EDT) |
| GNIS feature ID | 119087[1] |
Gold Hill, also known asGoldhill,Gold Mine, orGold Ridge, is anunincorporated community north-centrally located inLee County,Alabama, United States, just a few hundred feet south of theChambers County line. It is part of theColumbus, Georgia-Alabama Metropolitan Area. Today, Gold Hill lies mostly in the corporate limits ofAuburn.
Gold Hill was settled in the 1830s, and—despite being in the southern reaches of the territory mined forgold in the 1840s AlabamaGold Rush—was not named for the mineral, but rather for an early settler named Goldsmith. In the 1870s, Gold Hill received a second name, Gold Ridge, after confusion between the railroad stops at Gold Hill and nearbyCamp Hill led thepostal administration to rename the Gold Hillpost office. Despite being "officially" considered Gold Ridge by theUnited States Postal Service and the railroad, residents have always considered the community to be only Gold Hill.
Gold Hill is also the location of "Roamer's Roost", the home ofepilepsy scientistWilliam P. Spratling and his son, silversmithWilliam Spratling.
A post office operated under the name Gold Hill from 1837 to 1967.[2]
There was an old barn in Gold Hill which stood for 140 years. It was located adjacent to the railroad crossing onAlabama State Route 147. The building was erected in 1870 and served as the community'sgeneral store. During most of its history, the barn which housed the general store was connected to about 4,200 acres (17 km2) of farmland. The store, and the farms that surrounded it operated much in the same way all the way up until the 1940s. Following TheGreat Migration, many of the field laborers left the area to begin new lives in northern cities such asDetroit andBuffalo. This left the community a shell of its former self. Eventually, the store closed down and the mail trains didn't make stops in "Gold Ridge" anymore (to this day, the mail is still delivered to the community from the post office inWaverly, Alabama). Despite this, the barn stood as Gold Hill's most recognizable landmark until it was torn down in 2010.
Municipalities and communities ofLee County, Alabama,United States | ||
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| Cities |  | |
| Towns | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
| Central cities/largest cities |  Columbus, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area Auburn, Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area Tuskegee, Alabama Micropolitan Statistical Area (defunct) | |
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| Cities in Georgia | ||
| Cities in Alabama | ||
| Counties in Georgia | ||
| Counties in Alabama | ||