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Posted 11 months ago
packrat-pl…
(236 items)
A little background info about “Down In The Dumps-Part 1”
I have heard stories of this dump for quite some time, but was not 100% sure exactly where it was. There is another dump I am going to try and locate later this fall after it cools off, will keep you posted.
Anyway, I took my metal detector out the other day to try and find this dump. After about 30 minutes, I got a large hit on the detector, there was no sign of a dump on the surface, but I figured it was the dump because of the large area I got readings. These photos are after a couple of shovel fulls of top soil removed.
I carry a camera with me all the time when I am poking around, I like to photograph my finds. As you can see, nothing of great value so far, old silverware, broken doll parts, cartridges, and lots of unidentifiable items.
Thank goodness my wife is very tolerant of me digging out old trash dumps, outhouse pits, cisterns, crawling under old buildings, etc.
I will post more of the results as they become available.
enjoy
so this is your hidi-hole. or one of them. your the man packrat!
So how do you find these? My daughter got a metal detector for Christmas and we have thus far only hit the usual spots. Since we can't dress in black and search Civil War battle grounds like we did when I was a kid...it was the 70s and I had no idea we weren't supposed to...I need to get creative.
ain t it fun pack rat no matter what u find
the hunt is just as fun
AmberRose,
Part is luck, however, I do my own kind of research. First, most old house sites had some kind of trash pile somewhere on the property, it was way to much trouble to haul it off back then. It was usually at the back of the property, in a ravine, a gulley, creek bank, natural depression, etc. Scan the property and look for any features that look out of place, small mounds, depressions, etc. I look for pieces of broken glass and try to follow them to their source. Broken glass will wash down hill over the years. Look for burned pieces of items on the ground. A combination of metal detecting and probing can produce very good results.
I also ask around all the time. I go down to the convenience store here where the old timers hang out. I ask questions like “What used to be there?”, "Was there ever a house on that property?”, Where did people take their trash when you were a kid?”, things like that. Most of them love to talk about it.
Learn to visualize a potential site. Where would the house have sat, which way would it have faced, etc. It just takes practice, like anything else.
Hope this helps.
mikielikesigns2,
Thank you very much for the kind words, however, my wife says I haul home too much "junk", as she puts it.
Perfect!! Thank you so much for the advise. It makes complete sense. Hmmm...I am going to have to plan something out. Lots of concrete in Chicago but we have a lot of canals that horses used to pull boats through. I know those guys had city camps. There was a main canal along Morris...I am going to get mybresearch on!
Thank you pack rat, I always enjoy your posts.