Monroe Mine

Monroe is one of the named gold camps on the Stafford side of the Gold-Pyrite Belt, in the Goldvein neighborhood on the Salem Church quadrangle.

Palmer Sweet's 1975 road log (Stop 6) describes caved pits and shafts along a hill crest west of high-tension lines, with quartz-and-schist dumps. USGS MRDS record W000417 lists the site as Monroe Mine in Stafford County, with Credner (1868) and Sweet (1980) among the references.

Two different "Monroe" stories

Do not merge these threads:

• This mine: Stafford County lode camp near Goldvein, documented in Sweet's road log and MRDS W000417. Open on map centers the Virginia Energy shaft cluster at MRVID 183D-101, the inventory pin closest to published MRDS coordinates.
• Monroe Park: The Gold Mining Camp Museum at Monroe Park in Goldvein is a heritage site and map pin. It is not the same as standing on the historic shaft cluster.
• 1947 last production: Virginia Energy's statewide gold summary records 1947 as the last year of commercial gold production in Virginia, with last recorded production in Spotsylvania County. That statewide date is not a separate Fluvanna "Monroe Mine" inventory record.

How to study Monroe on VaGoldMaps

Open on map flies to MRVID 183D-101 on the Salem Church quad. Compare neighboring Stafford shaft pins (183D-102 through 183D-108) on the same ridge system.

• Historic mines: Pan east toward Spotsylvania's Whitehall country and west toward Fauquier inventory pins on the Goldvein side of the belt.
• Streams: Trace Rappahannock tributaries on the Fredericksburg side of the county. Stafford pins are lode-first research; placer questions follow creeks downhill on land you can legally access.
• LiDAR: Look for pit-and-dump roughness on the ridge crest Sweet described. Canopy hides much of this on topo alone.
• Land status: Part of this gold country lies inside or near Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. NPS boundaries on VaGoldMaps are always on and mark closed ground.

For inventory popup fields, see historic mine details.

Short history

Credner visited after the Civil War and reported caved drifts and shafts. MRDS notes dump ore crushed and amalgamated for reported yields around 1858. Sweet's 1974 inspection found a caved shaft, numerous pits, trenches, and dumps still evident.

Intermittent work likely continued into the early 1900s. The camp remained small-scale compared with major Spotsylvania and Orange producers.

Access and honesty

Sweet's road log notes private property near the workings. Historic coordinates are for map research only. Confirm ownership, park boundaries, and permission before any visit. VaGoldMaps does not grant access.