News just in from today's AJC:

No joke:  Highway signs intended to extend 'hospitality'   Drivers who creep their way up and down Ga. 400 may have been puzzled by the meaning of several tiny green signs.  The panels, which read "A Hospitality Highway Community," can be found beneath every city limit sign in both directions between Roswell and Dawsonville.

The signs are actually part of a promotion to tout Northside events and attractions in Roswell, Alpharetta, Cumming, Dawsonville and Dahlonega. 

The signs are not the only part of the promotion. A brochure, which is designed like a map, takes visitors up Ga. 400 and also shows Ga. 9. It highlights such attractions as vineyards, wineries, and gold mines in Dahlonega and Amicalola Falls State Park in Dawsonville.  Many nature spots are included, such as Sawnee Mountain Preserve, Autrey Mill Preserve and Chattahoochee Nature Center.  Also on the brochure is a listing of annual events through the year.  The effort has produced a Web site, www.hospitalityhighway.com.

Did you know that one of the first cities to "strike" gold was Dahlonega, GA?

Did you know that the "gold" dome of the Georgia State Capitol was mined in Dahlonega, GA?

     Well now, according to the Gainesville Times, one of Dahlonega's famous eateries (and hotel), The Smith House, may be sitting on a gold mine and might have been sitting on it for over 100 years!

     The Smith House is currently undergoing renovation and it is believed that workers uncovered the entrance to what might have been a gold mine built in the late 1800s.  The workers went into the hole for the first time yesterday afternoon and discovered a 4-foot hole in the ground where the main dining room used to be.  Rumor has it that this hole leads straight down to the alleged gold vein which is supposed to run from The Smith House to the Dahlonega Gold Museum in the downtown square.

     As the story goes, the home was originally built in 1884 by Captain Frank Hall, but the City wouldn't permit him to dig for gold on the property for two reasons.  First, it was too close to the downtown square and secondly, because he was a Yankee!  It is speculated that he built the house to hide what he was doing and that when his health failed, he sold it to the Smiths (in the 1920s).

     As of now, the family plans to check through dirt samples for signs of gold, coins or tools that may have been used to mine the property. Eventually, they would like to preserve it as a public historical site.

For more information on "Dahlonega gold" see http://www.dahlonegagold.com/dghist.htm