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Events/Rush · 1898

Nome gold rush

Rush, September 1898 to 1907, United States.

What happened

The NPS dates the gold discovery at Anvil Creek to 20 September 1898, the first large placer strike in Alaska proper. In 1899 miners found gold in the sand of Nome Beach. The NPS says upwards of 20,000 gold hunters were in Nome. From 1898 to 1907 nearly 50 million dollars in gold came from the Seward Peninsula, about 75 percent of it from streams in the Nome region.1,2

Why it matters

The NPS describes the Nome strikes as the end of the American gold rush trail.1,2

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. San Francisco ships US$724 million of treasure in 16 years

    Eastern ports took US$462 million, England US$168 million and China US$68 million.3,4

  2. Holtermann reef gold specimen unearthed

    The photographs form part of the Holtermann Collection of goldfield life.5,6

  3. Homestake Mine: inception

    Homestake Mine: inception.7

  4. Gold found in the Kimberley (Halls Creek)

    It was the first Western Australian gold excitement, before the 1890s rushes.8,9

  5. Gold find at Southern Cross

    A find at Southern Cross caused excitement in 1888, before the Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie rushes.10

  6. Jameson Raid

    Jameson Raid.11

  7. Steamship Portland docks at Seattle with a ton of Klondike gold

    The ship carried 68 miners from St. Michael, and news of the gold set off the stampede.12,13,14

  8. Goldfields Water Supply Scheme opens

    It let the dry goldfields grow after the 1890s rush.15,16,17

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Where next

Events

Came out ofGold found on Rabbit (Bonanza) CreekAnvil Creek, found on 20 September 1898, was the first big placer strike in Alaska proper.1

Places

Located inNomeUp to 20,000 gold hunters were in Nome in 1899.1

Sources

  1. Cape Nome Mining District Discovery Sites National Historic Landmark US National Park Service
  2. Nome Gold Rush (item Q7048516), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  3. Peabody A., Early voyages to California (treasure shipped from San Francisco 1854-1869) Library of Congress (Essex Institute Historical Collections)
  4. Wikidata item Q62 (San Francisco)
  5. The Holtermann Collection State Library of New South Wales
  6. Hill End (item Q14202724), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  7. Wikidata item Q2351504 (Homestake Mine: inception)
  8. The Rush for Gold (WA Goldfields) Western Australian Museum
  9. Halls Creek (item Q992686), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  10. The Rush for Gold Western Australian Museum
  11. Wikidata item Q916340 (Jameson Raid)
  12. Klondike Gold Rush begins on July 17, 1897 (Essay 699) HistoryLink.org
  13. History and Culture, Klondike Gold Rush - Seattle Unit National Historical Park US National Park Service
  14. Wikidata item Q5083 (Seattle)
  15. Building a Pipeline (WA Goldfields) Western Australian Museum
  16. CY O'Connor's Golden Pipeline celebrates 120 years of service (media statement, 24 Jan 2023) Government of Western Australia
  17. Mundaring Weir (item Q1800878), coordinate location P625 Wikidata

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: Gold prospectors constructing a long box with a filter for panning gold. Process print after H.M. Paget, 1899., Henry Marriott Paget (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Pangkalpinang. Mijn 3b. Een reeks koelies bezig met het transporteeren van grond, Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0).