c1874 Emeralds first found in plowed fields

1878 World's first discovery of Hiddenite

c1880 Hiddenite first identified

1880-1885 First mining by Emerald and Hiddenite Company (WE Hidden)

c1881 Emerald Crystal of 1,276 cts discovered
At the time, this was largest emerald crystal (8.5", 9 ozs) ever found in North America. Stolen from American Museum of Natural History, NY in 1950 and never recovered

c1886 1,270 ct emerald crystal found

1880-1888 $154,000 worth of Hiddenite gems mined

1907-1908 Mined by American Gem Mining Syndicate

1907 750 ct Emerald crystal (2"l x 1.5" dia) found

1926-1927 Mined by Hiddenite Mining Company (Burham Colburn)

1926 $73,000 worth of Hiddenite crystals produced

1954-c1980 Adams mine & farm open to prospectors

1971 Emerald cluster of 934.90 cts found

c1965 78 ct Emerald crystal found

1971 Reitzel Emerald Twin of 1,493 cts found
At the time, this was largest emerald crystal ever found in North America; now in Smithsonian

1971 6,900 cts of Emerald crystals found in one vein pocket. Included crystals of 267 cts, 723 cts, and 1,377 cts (now in Smithsonian)

c1971 Emerald crystals of 2 3/5" x 1 1/4", 2 3/4" x 1 5/8" and one at 7" longe found

c1980 1,500 Hiddenite crystals in single vein pocket found

Harper's New Monthly Magazine 1887
The finest Emerald crystal
(1,276 ct )
and the finest Hiddennite
crystal (lower right)
from 1880-88 mining

Mineral & Lapidary Museum of Henderson County, Hendersonville, NC W.E. Speer photo
Emerald & Rutile

W.E. Speer photo 2009
Adams Mine Emeralds on display at Smithsonian Institution
Museum of Natural History
Washington, DC

In 1886, Willam Earl Hidden reported the following about his 1,270 ct emerald:
The emerald pocket extended in a nearly vertical direction for twenty feet and was about one foot in diameter and four feet in its extreme lateral extent. The associated minerals were quartz crystals (from one ounce to twenty pounds weight and some that were fluid-bearing), green muscovite (fuchsite?), dolomite and minute crystals of monazite. The emeralds were nine in number and as regards color, perfection of form, and crystallographic interest, have not been surpassed at this locality. The largest emerald weighed nearly nine ounces and was three inches long by one and three-quarters in diameter. All the crystals....were alike in being doubly terminated. The polish of the basal pinacoids was remarkably perfect....