1956 Aerial - Garbage dump or fill dirt dump?

[RW]

I know this area real well now. The area is very hilly on an otherwise flat landscape. From the photo it is obvious there was organized dumping going on here. The photo was from 1956 and that seems to be about when the dumping stopped. Subsequent photos show growth, and now the is mostly dense trees and brush. Do the dumping patterns look more like the way dirt gets dumped after a major excavation? Or were city dumps not concerned about running out of space at the time and dumped in that manner too? There is not loose refuse blowing around or even right under the dirt, so if it was garbage it was covered with dirt. On the other hand, the dirt used doesn't look like anything different than dirt for that area. Like it was scraped up and covered with dirt in that location. Which could be a good thing. Anyone familiar or have any guesses? Or is it best if I literally go "poking" around out there?

 

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[RW]

Same spot 2004

 

[Marbleguy]

How long was the dump in use?

That should be easy to figure out. If it's a town dump and you know the town,websearch it's history. It may have a museum or historical society. Generally a dump of that construction dates from the 1939s/40s. But some dumps go back a lot longer than that. I would scout-around the dump's surrounding area looking for signs of where locals originally dumped their trash. Look for depressions such as dry stream beds,etc. If the old dumpsite was close to town and a road the oldsters
liked to dump their trash into depressions so it could'nt be seen easily from the road. Re the little desert ghost town I live in in the Mojave Desert I work dry stream beds 1/4 mile further back into a canyon. Am finding bonanzas of bottles/artifacts where the occaissional flash flood washed bottles into the stream bed. Then they were covered 24" with wind blown sand. Nothing at all on the surface to indicate what lays below.