Gold pieces from Chilton County are now part of the new Museum of Alabama’s Land of Alabama exhibit at the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery.

The department will hold a grand opening event Saturday, Aug. 27 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to celebrate the completion of Phase I of the museum, which includes two new exhibits called the Land of Alabama and the First Alabamians.

The pieces of gold from Chilton County were originally displayed in the Alabama Museum of Natural History in Tuscaloosa.

“We are using the gold as part of an exhibit on the physiographic regions of Alabama, one of which is the Piedmont,” said Steve Murray, state archives assistant director for administration.

Marble from Alexander City will also represent the Piedmont region.

A label below the gold and other specimens associated with the Piedmont states that there was a major gold rush in Alabama and Georgia in the 1830s and 1840s, and many of the miners left to join the 1849 gold rush in California.

All grand opening activities are free and include guest speakers, a meet-and-greet with the museum experts and hands-on activities for the entire family.