Cowee Gift Shop & Mason Mountain
Where customers become friends and friends become family!
In the late 1800’s, a mine was discovered in northern Macon County, North Carolina that was rich in Rhodolite garnets and six other minerals. The mine was a well-known treasure to the county’s earliest inhabitants and in 1965, when Tom Johnson was just six months old, his father purchased the mine. Today, the mine is still in the family with Tom and his wife, Ginger, continuing the family’s legacy of opening the mine, now known as Cowee Gift Shop and Mason Mountain Mine.
Tom & Ginger Johnson
The family mining tradition has remained, making the mine a popular gathering site for families and miners from all over the world who come to Macon County still searching for gems.
In addition to Rhodolite garnets, named for the native Rhododendron that grows across the mountains, the property has six other minerals – Corundum, which is Ruby and Sapphire, Kyanite, Moonstone, Smokey Quartz, Garnet, and Cordierite (a form of Iolite).