Rubies,Sapphires,and dozens More (Asheville, Franklin: motel, camp, to live)

[Trail Majic]

Has any one seen on the travel channel how rich Franklin,NC is in all those big
mineral deposits.The 2nd largest ruby in the world was found in Franklin and is on display at Ruby City Museum there.Sapphire Inn motel in Franklin sends a
lot of folks in the right direction to the mines with the big finds.One night I was there and a lady had found a 55 caret blue sapphire,another man found a
39 caret ruby,and one man found a garnet over 100 carets all in one day.The
owners of Sapphire Inn has lots of large dealer stay there to attend the large
world class gem shows held in Franklin during May and July.Are there many of you in NC aware of these large mineral deposits in Franklin?

[RaleighRob]

Oh yeah the NC mountains are filled with gemstones. At my summer camp (as a kid) up near Laurel Springs, we often found pebble-sized garnets among the gravel rocks on one of the dirt roads that bisected the main hiking trails!

[Trail Majic]

Originally Posted by Trail Majic

Has any one seen on the travel channel how rich Franklin,NC is in all those big
mineral deposits.The 2nd largest ruby in the world was found in Franklin and is on display at Ruby City Museum there.Sapphire Inn motel in Franklin sends a
lot of folks in the right direction to the mines with the big finds.One night I was there and a lady had found a 55 caret blue sapphire,another man found a
39 caret ruby,and one man found a garnet over 100 carets all in one day.The
owners of Sapphire Inn has lots of large dealer stay there to attend the large
world class gem shows held in Franklin during May and July.Are there many of you in NC aware of these large mineral deposits in Franklin?

I just saw a story on Asheville's ABC tv station about these ruby mines that I was talking about.

[silverwing]

Originally Posted by Trail Majic

Has any one seen on the travel channel how rich Franklin,NC is in all those big mineral deposits.

Well, NC was the site of the nation's first gold rush, happening over 40 years before the one in California. During the first quarter of the 19th century, all the US gold coinage came from what was mined in NC.

In the Piedmont, Hiddenite is famous for its emeralds. Gems like this have been found there
http://www.hedegaard.com/Photos/SilicatesA/EmeraldHiddenite01.jpg (broken link)

For those wanting to really get to know the state, other than the best transplant areas to live, NC is a very interesting place. I'm not enough of a rock hound to be that interested, so we always passed it by, but we've heard that the NC Mineral Museum, located on the Blue Ridge Parkway, is a spiffy place to visit http://www.mitchell-county.com/festival/museum.html