Making Dalonega Famous: Madeleine Kiker Anthony
Moving to Dahlonega after being married, Madeleine Kiker Anthony started the Dahlonega Chamber of Commerce and promoted the town's history of gold mining to the Georgia Board of Tourism. Her promotion efforts were only outdone by her work in historic preservation, converting the old courthouse to a gold museum and building a public history of the town for locals and visitors. As a capstone she chaired the Gold Dome project for the state capitol building and organized a wagon train to bring Dahlonega's gold to Atlanta.
Making Dalonega Famous: Madeleine Kiker Anthony
Moving to Dahlonega after being married, Madeleine Kiker Anthony started the Dahlonega Chamber of Commerce and promoted the town's history of gold mining to the Georgia Board of Tourism. Her promotion efforts were only outdone by her work in historic preservation, converting the old courthouse to a gold museum and building a public history of the town for locals and visitors. As a capstone she chaired the Gold Dome project for the state capitol building and organized a wagon train to bring Dahlonega's gold to Atlanta.
1. How did Madeleine Anthony bring a new industry to Dahlonega?
2. Visit the City of Dahlonega's website. How do you see Madeleine Anthony's legacy and her efforts to bring about tourism to city reflected on its website?
1. Your teacher should bring in materials to show how prospectors would pan for gold during the Dahlonega gold rush. Your teacher can even plant "pieces of gold" for students to try to find by using fool's gold or small bits of tin foil.
2. Ask students to create a brochure, email flyer or billboard to attract tourists to Dahlonega.
chamber of commerce: a form of business network, for example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses
tourism: the activity of traveling to a place for pleasure
gold rush: a situation in which many people go quickly to a place where gold has been discovered because they hope to find more gold and become rich
1. How did Madeleine Anthony bring a new industry to Dahlonega?
Madeleine Anthony was fascinated with Dahlonega's history as the first major gold rush site in the United States. When a tourism board was created, Madeleine used this as an opportunity to bring tourists to Dahlonega to pan for gold, participate in festival events, and visit historical sites and museums in the city.
2. Visit the City of Dahlonega's website. How do you see Madeleine Anthony's legacy and her efforts to bring about tourism to city reflected on its website?
Dahlonega's slogan is "It's pure gold" and the website features an entire section on discovering gold. Within this section are opportunities to pan for gold, tour old gold mines, and visit the Dahlonega Gold Museum--which was founded by Madeleine. There's even a park in the city that is named after her. The city still hosts a gold festival every year and uses its historical buildings and landmarks to attract visitors from all over.