Old Wauconda began after the three Hedge brothers, from Wauconda, Illinois, discovered a wide ledge of quartz carrying free gold in the spring of 1896. The find set off a rush to the area as prospectors hoped for another Eureka Camp, and by 1898 a considerable community had grown up with a wagon road linking the property to Republic. A general store, three crude hotels, four saloons, and other businesses made it a thriving place, while a stage running from Chesaw to Republic twice a week stopped there for passengers and mail. The camp soon had more than 300 people, and a post office opened by 1901. Four patented mines, the Oregonian and the Wauconda No. 1, 2, and 3, along with 18 unpatented mines, were located there. Most mining was done by the Wauconda Gold Mining Co. from 1898 to 1904, when more than 2,000 feet of crosscuts, adits, and drifts were dug and a 60-ton stamp mill and a sampling mill were built at the main tunnel to process ore. Numerous 50 pound samples yielded values of $10 to $18 per ton with a 95% gold recovery, but by 1904 the mine was showing signs of depletion. It soon closed, ending the original town, and its inhabitants moved about two miles over the pass to the present site of the Wauconda Hall.