 The mining camp of Dahlonega boomed during the ensuing Georgia Gold Rush.Iron foundries in Virginia and early coal mining operations in central Appalachia date to before 1850.Furnaces and forges were built in the Appalachians of North Central Alabama as early as 1818 and by 1871 would give rise to Birmingham later known as the Pittsburgh of the South as it became the leading industrial and transportation hub of the south.