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Events/Rush · 1884

Barberton gold rush

Rush, 1884 (first traces 1874), South Africa.

What happened

SAHO says Barberton was named after Henry Barber on 24 July 1884, after he and his cousin Fred found gold there. Tom McLachlan found the first traces of alluvial gold in the area in 1874.1,2

Why it matters

Barberton was the first major gold boom of the eastern Transvaal, two years before the Witwatersrand.1,2

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Eureka Rebellion

    Eureka Rebellion.3

  2. Comstock Lode strikes

    The Comstock set the pattern for the Western mining boom town. By the mid-1870s the lode was seen as played out.4,5,6

  3. General Mining Law of 1872

    The law remains the basis for claims to locatable minerals on US federal land.7,8

  4. Herbert Hoover born

    Herbert Hoover born (date from Wikidata).9

  5. Gold found in the Kimberley (Halls Creek)

    It was the first Western Australian gold excitement, before the 1890s rushes.10,11

  6. Gold find at Southern Cross

    A find at Southern Cross caused excitement in 1888, before the Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie rushes.12

  7. Gold found on Rabbit (Bonanza) Creek

    It set off the Klondike gold rush.13,14,15

  8. Dawson City at the height of the Klondike rush

    Parks Canada estimates 20,000 to 30,000 people at the height of the rush.16

Open the full timeline

Where next

Events

Led toGold found on the WitwatersrandBarberton was the first major eastern Transvaal boom, two years before the Witwatersrand.17Came out ofAlluvial gold found at Pilgrim's RestPilgrim's Rest began the Transvaal rush in 1873. Barberton followed in 1884.18

Places

Located inBarbertonSee the place where this happened: Barberton.1

Sources

  1. Barberton, Mpumalanga South African History Online
  2. Barberton (item Q807828), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  3. Wikidata item Q2164870 (Eureka Rebellion)
  4. Virginia City Historic District, Nevada US National Park Service
  5. The Comstock Lode (blog, 10 June 2021) US Bureau of Land Management
  6. Comstock Lode (item Q1122817), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  7. Mining Claims and Sites on Federal Lands (PDF) US Bureau of Land Management
  8. Washington, D.C. (item Q61), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  9. Wikidata item Q35236 (Herbert Hoover)
  10. The Rush for Gold (WA Goldfields) Western Australian Museum
  11. Halls Creek (item Q992686), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  12. The Rush for Gold Western Australian Museum
  13. Discovery Claim National Historic Site Parks Canada
  14. Gold Discoverers (Klondike Gold Rush NHP) US National Park Service
  15. Bonanza Creek (item Q2213604), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  16. Dawson Historical Complex National Historic Site Parks Canada
  17. Discovery of the Gold in 1884 South African History Online
  18. Mpumalanga South African History Online

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0; Underground mining equipment by Kaupo Kikkas, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Pangkalpinang. Mijn 3b. Een reeks koelies bezig met het transporteeren van grond, Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Kimberley, South Africa: miners and washing gear at the Bultfontein diamond mine. Woodburytype, 1888, after a photograph by Robert Harris., Harris, Robert, active 1881-1888. (Public Domain Mark 1.0).