LOUDONVILLE — The Mohican area once had its own gold rush, about 130 years ago.
Southern Richland County, particularly around Bellville and Butler, had multiple documented gold findings in the 1800s. In 1905 another discovery, near Butler, was reported.
According to the Loudonville Democrat, “F.C. Norman came north from North Carolina [in 1904] and began prospecting on the quiet … he had found gold … and two months ago, quietly leased about 400 acres.”
Then, two years later in 1907 the Democrat reported a new deposit, “GOLD: FOUND NEAR LOUDONVILLE … Gold in paying quantities has been discovered on a farm about 10 miles south of Loudonville. D.L. Swartz, an expert mining engineer representing Pittsburg [sic] capitalists, is upon the scene and pronounces the pay dirt worth $5 per ton. Besides the gold, the engineer says, the dirt is rich in ruby deposits.
“The farmers in the neighborhood are greatly excited over the find and already organizing a home company to develop the territory. Pittsburg [sic] people are offering exorbitant prices for options on the land until further developments can be made, but the land owners are not inclined to negotiate.”
The claim seemed too good to be true, and the Democrat reported that the find was “a sensational dispatch going the rounds of the daily press, but no excitement here.”
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