barbed wire at a site - question

[funkman]

Been hitting this same site every chance I get and was searching near a huge old tree that just calls out to search near it. Well I get to this tree and search and just find the normal stupid beer can lids (which is amazing that the tops and bottoms of the cans stayed and the rest of it disappeared. ANyway I notice that there is barbed wire runiing past this tree and it follows the path of an old road that is no longer there (was on old maps.)
Upon looking at these maps, the oldest map, 1875, shows 2 houses, one on each side of this road. I have been searching the one side of the road and have found many objects and many nails and 4 1800's era coins. Now there are a few of these old trees that lined the road and they have the barbed wire connecting them. This obviously seems to me that the barbed wire was a property line or to keep animals penned up. The barbed wire is only on the one side of this old road. I know I;m beating around the bush here but wanting to give as much information as possible without blindly asking the question. On this side of the road where I assume a house once was and the barbed wire is there, I cannot seem to determine where a house could have been. This area pretty much has hills and plenty of rocks and trees and cannot seem to find a flat open area where a house might have once stood. The map in question even has names for each owner of the houses.
Now taking the barbed wire into consideration, does anyone know how far away from a property line a house normally stood? The barbed wire runs a good 200 feet or more from tree to tree along the road. I have been back there and do not see any indication of stone walls or foundations or anything except this barbed wire. Anything else I should look for?

Sorry for the long winded post.

Thanks
Funkman

 

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[dahut]

Honestly, you may be in the wrong place. It may not have been a house at all. Just because a structure is called out on an old map doesnt mean it was a house. Especailly in the old days, where there were fewer structures along a road. In that case, things like barns or stock pens could be rightly called a notable landmark along a road and would be marked.
There is a notable Revolutionary War battle site here in SC known as "The Cowpens". Can you guess why it is called that? You guessed it, the site was once the location of someone's cattle yard and just happened to be a handy landmark to join up at and have a little skirmish.

As to the barbed wire, some few things stand out. Why do you put up a fence? - you said it. To keep someone/thing in or out, right? Perhaps it didnt mark a property line at all - most property owners in uncongested country know where their property begins and ends and have little need of such costly things as fences...unless they are trying to erect a barrier of some sort. Maybe instead of a house, your current site was an outbuilding for livestock of some kind, ACROSS the road from the main house. That happened a lot; still does. A person owns property on either side of a road and, since it's close, he just goes about his business. Or the old wagon road "over the hill" road ends up becoming popular, bisecting his land and he just gets used to it.

You said the barbed wire ran for some distance. Go see if there is any sign of barbed wire ACROSS the road, where the other structure is supposed to have stood. Most livestock keepers keep the livestock separate from the house, like in a separate field, even if it's across the road. It wasn't all that common to put fence wire around the house itself, for obvious reasons. If you find no wire over there, then chances are I'm not far off in my theory.

Finally, just because you want to see some sign of a house, doesnt meant that it has to be there. Bulldozers, dumptrucks and other earth moving equipment have been around for decades.

 

[funkman]

Thanks for the reply Dahut. Yeah you are right about the wire being on only one side of the road. I just saw those huge trees and they said come over here and see what we got, which was nothing as of yet. People have dumped garbage on this side of the road like car parts and a washing machine are here in a relatively open area. For craps and giggles I might just take a run up there to see what I can dig up but like you said, I think the area where I found the coins and relics is where I want to concentrate more.

Thanks again.

Funkman

 

[leddel]

i run into this from time to time as well , alot of logging was done in the late 40's with heavy machinery sometimes they would fill the cellar holes in if they were cutting and loading very close to them . usually i find that the really large trees are a good indication of where these cellars stood as far as how close to the road ,i've seen them right next to or as much as several hundered yards back from the road . hope this helps

 

[Monty]

Even in the old days they had a little road or something going from the road to the house. I look for shallower spots in a bar ditch along the side of the road. Look for domesticated plants remaining, rose bushes, flowers, shrubs, etc., plants that just wouldn't ordinarily be there. Look for fruit trees, nearly every farmer I ever knew had some kind of fruit tree close to the house. Around here it is usually a pear or mulberry tree. Check for unatural sunken in places such as where an old cellar or outhouse might have been. These tips have worked for me several times. Monty

 

[Eu_citzen]

Yes fruit trees where normal here in sweden to, but if there is a water flow close by they would seattle on a smaller hill
or something like that. On the ground you can sometimes se "strange rocks sticking up" out of the ground, check those well, even if it just was a small stone fence/wall.(to keep animals in)
As when building it they might have lost something.