About the Image(s)

June 1st, I attended the Bicentennial Celebration in Gold Hill, NC, USA with my local camera club. They had several heritage exhibits set up along with costumed participants. This was a shot of a mother and her young daughter at the yarn spinning wheel. The kids were so cute in their costumes and I liked the concentration this young girl had in what her mother was doing.
Here’s a little more info on the town:
The restored gold mining town of Gold Hill and Gold Hill Mines Historic Park invite visitors to step back in time. Come out and experience the simple life. The wood sidewalks are reminiscent of the Old West, but in fact, Gold Hill, North Carolina was a well established gold mining boom town by the early 1840’s. This was almost a decade before the gold strike at Sutter’s Mill in California. Gold Hill had a bustling main street that spanned a mile in its day. The town boasted of at least sixteen merchants, twenty-three saloons and about six brothels. The town had two hotels, a boarding house and a two-story mining office. It was a town of which, even the mayor of Charlotte, NC was envious. He made newspaper headlines when he commented that he had hopes that “Charlotte will one day be as big and prosperous as Gold Hill.â€�
The first discovery of gold at Gold Hill was in 1824. In 1843 the town was incorporated. A formal ‘town’ meeting was held and Col. George Barnhardt, son-in-law of John Reed (Reed Gold Mine, NC State Historic Site), was chosen as the first mayor. Under his management, the Barnhardt Gold Mine at a depth of 435ft. was becoming the largest producer of gold in the south. The Earnhardt/Randolph Gold Mine reached an eventual depth of 850ft. Between the two mines alone, they produced a wealth of gold valued at seven to nine million dollars prior to the California gold strike. The news of the California strike didn’t stop production of gold on the eastern front. The gold mines in North Carolina continued to prosper and lead the way in gold production until the beginning of the Civil War.

Shot with a Canon R5 and RF70-200 F2.8 L IS USM at 104mm, f/4.0, 1/200 sec, handheld.
Processed with ACR, Photoshop and converted to B&W with NIK 7 Silver Efex