Trinity County was a product of the gold rush. Gold was discovered along the Trinity River in 1848. The communities, ghost towns and mining camps of Trinity County had their beginnings in those historic years following the discovery of gold.

During and after World War I, some of these early mines were worked over by large gold dredges. The first successful dredge operation was started about 1916 by the Pacific Gold Dredging Company at the mouth of Coffee Creek. The dredge later moved to Trinity Center where it continued to operate until 1925. The dredge camp established there later became known as "Stringtown" because of the manner in which the camp was strung out. Stringtown is now under Lake Trinity.

In the late 1950's, when Trinity Lake was being made, structures from the small community of Stringtown were moved to various locations in Trinity Center, Carrville Loop and the Coffee Creek area.

The mines that were along both sides of the Trinity River, north of Trinity Center up to and including the lower portion of Coffee Creek have been grouped together as the North Lake Mining Operations District. Particularly noticeable today at the north end of the lake are massive gold dredge tailings "rock piles" which are the residue of dredge operations.

The Bonanza King and Bonanza Queen group of mines were active from 1893 until 1922. Many structures still stand that dates back to those early years. It has been researched to find that there is still large amounts of gold in Coffee Creek today.