Panning for Gold in North Carolina? at a Castle?

A few weeks ago we drove down to Greensboro, North Carolina.  We saw an exit for a castle.  Interesting.  We visited a castle while we were in Connecticut, Gillett Castle, and it was really, really cool.  So, we take the exit.

It's Saturday and they only allow you in on tours Monday thru Friday.  Bummer.  Weekends are for weddings.  Ok. We'll just have to come back.  So, we went back to our original plan and ended up at the Guilford County American Revolutionary battlefield.  Good enough.

Yesterday we were planning our weekend and decided to go back to the castle - but we couldn't remember it's name or much else about finding it.  I decided to Google "North Carolina castles," and we were VERY surprised to find out that there are a TON of castles in North Carolina.  (Makes ya' wonder how many there are in other states ...)  I spy one on the list in Guilford County and figure that must be it.  One click and another surprise:  It was originally a mill for crushing ore and picking out GOLD.  In fact, we could actually PAN for gold if we want!  Who knew?  Gold in North Carolina! 

The Castle McCullock website says:  "Following the discovery of gold in North Carolina, an enterprising Cornish engineer named Charles McCulloch came to the gold fields of Jamestown, North Carolina to build a gold refinery. He brought with him the architecture of England and the latest technological development, the steam engine. McCulloch Gold Mill was built in 1832 and operated for many year..."

Turns out the California gold rush of 1849 pulled all the miners out of the Carolinas and on to California.  Sutters Mill made the history books; North Carolina didn't.  The Civil War rolls around and Castle McCullock ends up as a Confederate hospital for awhile.

There is a "history" tab at the bottom of the website, and when I click on it I discover that the castle virtually ceased to exist a long, long time ago.  About the only thing left standing was the chimney and a part of a wall with a window opening.  It's been rebuilt now, but the gold story is more interesting to us than the castle itself.

Ultimately we decide not to go to Castle McCullock.  It seems to be more a wedding site than a tourist attraction.  John begins to research other things to do in Greensboro...