First Documented Gold Discovery in California

Date: March 9, 1842 • Location: Parksdale, United States

The first documented discovery of gold in California occurs at Rancho San Francisco, six years before the California Gold Rush.

Gold is a chemical element; its chemical symbol is Au and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a bright-metallic-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal, a group 11 element, and one of the noble metals. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements, being the second lowest in the reactivity series, with only platinum ranked as less reactive. Gold is solid under standard conditions.