An annual New Year’s Eve tradition on Franklin Main Street is the “dropping” (lowering) of a 6 by 7-foot, 800-pound, handmade steel and plexiglass, lighted ruby suspended 60 feet in the air from a crane – once at 9 p.m. for families and early-to-bed attendees, and the other at midnight. The 11th annual event is again sponsored by Crabtree Family Enterprise, owners of Motor Company Grill and Crabtree General Store & Coffee Vault, with marketing assistance from the Tourism Development Authority and Tourism Development Commission. Live music, food and beverages, carriage rides, and a tiny camper photo booth are part of the celebration. Dakota Gregory, a freshman at Franklin High School, asked and answered the question: “Why the ruby as a symbol for Franklin, and why are there so many gem mines in Franklin?” in an assignment for English teacher Melissa Unger.
Anyone living in Franklin has driven past a gem mine. Some may wonder why there are so many.
To find out more, I interviewed Kevin Klatt, owner of Ruby City Gems, located on Main Street in Franklin. Klatt is the grandson of Ernest (Ernie) Klatt, who founded Ruby City Gems in 1958. He came to this area primarily to vacation, but he fell in love with the area and wanted to start a business around the culture of mining.
So, Ruby City Gems is now a third-generation business. Ruby City has one native mine here in Franklin: Mason Ruby & Sapphire Mine.
Franklin has never been known for having a lot of gold, but instead for having other gems – especially rubies. The reason mining has been so popular in this area is because of the quantity of corundum, which contains traces of iron, titanium, vanadium, and chromium. Because of their hardness, corundum minerals were mined to be used as abrasives, such as sandpaper and grinding wheels used in industries all throughout the 1800s and into the early 1940s.
We have at least two communities in Macon County that operated corundum mines for abrasives: Goodsenville Mine Road, off Ellijay Road, and Corundum Hill, off Hwy. 64/Highlands Road.
Corundum has two primary gem varieties that have made the mining culture popular for generations: ruby and sapphire. After mining corundum went to the wayside, locals figured out they could make money selling bags and buckets of dirt, which just might have rubies, sapphires, and other gems in them. From the 1950s, all the way to present day, people with gem mines charged people to dig and clean gems. (Some places in Macon County also offer jewelry services so that found gems can be set into earrings, pendants, accessories, etc.)
People might not be able to get rich off mining in Macon County, but they have made mining not just a hobby but a living. And, people can still find shiny things around creeks on their own properties.
Enjoy watching the giant lighted ruby “drop” as we ring in another New Year in Franklin!
