1850's Schoolhouse Adventure

[sibbley]

My latest permission is an 1850's schoolhouse owned by a municipality that actually seems to care about history. I have the blessing of the municipality and its Historical Commission to clean out the property and find what I can. Any items pertaining to the school will be given to the Historical Commission for display.

The school was built in about 1859 and operated for about 100 years closing in 1958. The school served grades 1-8 till 1951 when it was lowered to grades 1-6. In 1959 the school building and property was sold to a nearby farm and sold again in 1997 to a large corporate farm. In 2013 the school building and property was gifted to the municipality. The structure was refurbished between 2013 and 2015 to its current fine condition.

I was able to get a half day off work August 23, 2024, and decided to spend a couple hours at the site just sniffing around for any obvious decent tones. Tons of iron, I mean it's a very trashy area. Around the building is the worst I think I have seen. I imagined most of the trash there was from the work done to refurbish the building. I got lucky though, I went to search around the trees in the yard. They are thick, so I figured they were at least 80 years old. That paid off with a coin spill including silver.

1850's Schoolhouse Coin Spill with SILVER!

The next township over owns an 1850's schoolhouse which I just received permission to hunt. One condition though, they get to see all the recovered items. I told them they could have all the recovered items to display. The building was rehabbed several years ago, and I figured there would be...

www.treasurenet.com

I spent a couple hours on Saturday and Sunday removing iron from the yard and around the building. Haven't taken photos of those items yet. I also pulled flashing, bottle caps, pull tabs, and the dreaded foil from around the building. While working the building area, a gentlemen wondered over from the nearby farm and introduced himself. Turns out he not only attended school there but also worked for the farm that owned the property from 1959 to 1997. This fellow was a wealth of information and explained why I was finding the iron items I was finding.

At one point the school building was renovated to accommodate tractor repair. Tractors and farm equipment were stored on the grounds for many years. Broken parts were just thrown to the ground and left to rot and sink into the ground. I have my work cut out for me, but I have all the time in the world to work at finding the older pieces.

I'll continue to post as I make progress.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Treasure of Victoria Peak - Grab it through Amazon!

[sibbley]

I forgot to mention in my first post, I used the Deus 2 on Friday and Saturday and the Manticore on Sunday. I got around to photographing the other finds this afternoon. After I had cleaned up these other items, I realized I had a piece that could have been left over from the schoolhouse.

Most of the iron seems to be left over from the days when farming equipment was worked on or stored on the property.

A spline from and axle or some type of gear driven shaft.

The next two are plow parts.

Misc.

Some of the trash from around the building.

Not sure what this tag was used for. It's about the size of a quarter.

I didn't realize this item had fancy till I cleaned it off last night. I think this is a rail hook for hanging picture frames. Maybe used in the school? I may never know...

Small two-hole button.

A modern coin spill. Also, from the trashy area around the building.

Coal picked up from around the building entrance. The school used a coal stove for heat.

Found around the yard. i haven't looked into age yet. Shot gun shell is more modern.

I'm hoping to get back over the weekend to clean out more of the trash and see what else I might stumble across. The neighbor also gave me permission to detect his old farmhouse next door. Might try to get over there too.

 

[Almy]

That site will keep you busy for awhile. Nice to have access to the 2 sites.

 

[sibbley]

Made my way back to the school on Labor Day. Lots of trash and iron, but I did find a few keepers. Used the Deus 2 Tekkna program again.

Foil milk bottle lid from Freeman's Dairy, Allentown PA. Freeman's operated between 1927 and 1986.

Copper button with iron back.

Absolutely no idea.

Tack head or clothing snap.

Old square nail.

Might get back out there tomorrow.

 

[sibbley]

Got out to the school this morning. Today I decided on a different course of action. I used the Nokta/Makro Impact. I've been thinking with all the iron, there just may be some goodies hiding deeper. I've had pretty good luck with the Impact hitting deeper targets in "VLX2" mode. I've never tried the Impact after using the Manticore or Deus 2 before. I've been using the Manticore and Deus 2 pretty religiously since I got the 9" coil for both.

I went over a 10" x 10" spot that's got heavy iron. Pulled some iron out and hit on three wheat cents over the course of an hour. Each a few inches deeper than the iron. About 5-6 inches, the iron is mostly 1-3 inches. Even noticed today that separation on the Impact is good. Not great, but OK for an older machine. I was able to hear two of the wheats between pieces of iron.

1946

1923

1935

Kind of reminds me of a fancy cast iron pan handle.

Misc. trash.

Interesting little experiment today. Will definitely have to try the Impact again. Hopefully I'll have more time next trip.

 

[dieselfool]

Here in Iowa there was a one-room schoolhouse which my ancestors attended, down to my father. The school was in use from the 1860s until it closed in 1947. I detected it back in the late '70s and found nothing of value. My dad told me there was nothing there for several reasons:
Rural kids were poor.
There was nothing to buy at school even if someone did have some money.
If someone lost something of value such as a ring it would be searched for until found.
I was talking to an old guy (born around 1910) years ago and he told me one time around 1920 the family was going to town. He had a dime that he had received for his birthday to spend. He said between the house and the car he lost the dime. They looked for it a while but then went on. When they got home he went on his hands and knees pulling grass in the yard but found nothing, so they decided he must have lost it on the front porch where it fell in a crack between the boards. His father pulled boards up and the kid went down in the 2 foot space
with a candle and saw a glint. It was his dime.
After hearing this, I marvel about the recoveries people make on items that were lost long ago. I find a lot of change and stuff with the detector but nothing much older than circa 1930.

 

[robertk]

My dad told me there was nothing there for several reasons:
Rural kids were poor.
There was nothing to buy at school even if someone did have some money.
If someone lost something of value such as a ring it would be searched for until found.

I don't doubt those things are true. However, back in those days, the schools were often social hubs as well. Bake sales, ice cream socials, dances, and other gatherings were often held at the schools. And for those, it wasn't just the kids who showed up, but the whole family. You never know what you might find.

 

[LauraLou56]

Made my way back to the school on Labor Day. Lots of trash and iron, but I did find a few keepers. Used the Deus 2 Tekkna program again.

Foil milk bottle lid from Freeman's Dairy, Allentown PA. Freeman's operated between 1927 and 1986.
View attachment 2167350
Copper button with iron back.
View attachment 2167351View attachment 2167352
Absolutely no idea.
View attachment 2167353View attachment 2167354
Tack head or clothing snap.
View attachment 2167355View attachment 2167356
Old square nail.
View attachment 2167357View attachment 2167358

Might get back out there tomorrow.

Wow! Great haul! The flower button is so sweet. Thank you for sharing!

 

[sibbley]

I was asked today to search inside the schoolhouse. The floor is gone, so all the original ground is exposed. A quick search revield a partial crotal bell and a side of one of the original school benches (pics to come).

I have till Columbus day to find whatever I can before the ground is covered with concrete forever. I was also asked today to attempt to try to find the original school which is now cornfield.

The original school was log and built in the late 1700's and burned sometime in the 1800's. They are not exactly sure of the date.

Looks like I have my work cut out for me for the next several weeks in the building.

More to come...

 

[sibbley]

Nothing has been cleaned yet, but here are the pics of my finds so far inside the building. Yes, I did dig up the bucket. It was about 6 inches deep. Crotal was about 4 inches deep.

 

[LauraLou56]

Nothing has been cleaned yet, but here are the pics of my finds so far inside the building. Yes, I did dig up the bucket. It was about 6 inches deep. Crotal was about 4 inches deep.

View attachment 2168927View attachment 2168929View attachment 2168930View attachment 2168931View attachment 2168932View attachment 2168933View attachment 2168934

This must be so exciting to be a part of! Look at these amazing finds! The original school house may bring even older finds too, just keeps giving!

 

[sibbley]

Cleaned the Crotal. Looks to be a number 6, it's just a tad smaller than a baseball. The petals are different than others I've found. Then there is a ring of dots around the bottom. If there was a makers mark, it must have been on the side that's missing.

I'll get good pics of it tomorrow.

 

[sibbley]

Some pics my wife took while I was working in the building. This was really fun, but my body is feeling it right now. 😂

By the way, the black board you can see in one pic is original from the 1850's.

 

[sibbley]

I had some time to clean the bell and take some pics today. This thing just looks really old to me. It's just about 3" wide at the ridge and just about 3" tall from the base of the shank to the bottom at the throat. Looked to me like it was marked with a 6 (last pic), but now I'm questioning that. Classicbells.com has a #6 listed as 1 and 3/4". This guy is definitely larger than that. I'm thinking it maybe bronze; it seems to have a slight attraction to a magnet. I sent a pic to Classic Bells for their opinion on age.