History

The Gold Bug was founded by Art Lassagne in 1962 as a resource for treasure hunters and prospectors. A storefront was opened in Lafayette, California in 1965 and moved to Walnut Creek, California in 1969 for selling metal detectors, gold pans, prospecting equipment, and books. Mr. Lassagne is the author of several books including The Metal Detector Handbook and California Pioneer Towns.

In 1971, the storefront was closed and the founder moved to Nevada to be closer to the old mining and prospecting ghost towns of the Sierras. At that time the Gold Bug became primarily a mail-order business, publishing the Gold Bug Newsletter and various related books.

In 1974, the Gold Bug moved back to California, but remained a mail order business. Moving from prospecting to research, the Gold Bug's focus changed to early map reproductions and other geographical information, which remains its focus today.

In 1994, the Gold Bug ventured into software publishing with its first software product, AniMap. In June 1995 the Gold Bug began its presence on the World Wide Web.












[The Gold Bug | Gold Bug Catalog | AniMap | SiteFinder | Centennia ]