Cellar Holes and old foundations

[hed11877]

I live in an area that has been settled since 1681. There are hundreds of wooded acres in my area. what do you guys look for when searching for old homesteads?

 

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[gold fish]

Alot of the time, especially in older areas, all I notice is an irregular(unnatural) depression. If it's actually a cellar hole, you should be able to turn up foundation stones around the edges of such a spot. Keep an eye out for anything that doesn't look "right".

 

[treasurejack]

Small clearings, especially those near a source of flowing water! Once you find an area like this start looking for patches of fieldstone and small "ground ridges" or "depressions" within the clearing itself. One thing you can do from home is to go on-line and study aerial photographs of the areas you have access to, the clearings will be much easier to locate from overhead!

 

[l.cutler]

Most of the old homes in my area had lilac bushes, in the Spring look for lilacs blooming.

 

[WV Hillbilly]

Foundation rocks , chimney rocks , depressions , in my area there is usually flowers and or bushes such as easter flowers + flowering shrubs .

 

[hollowpointred]

first get some old maps that show where the old houses used to stand. then when you go out to investigate, look for stuff that kinda stands out. broken brick and oyster shell , pottery shards, trees that look out of place, especially old pine trees. trees that are growing in a straight line as if they were planted ,remember, nature doesn't draw straight lines. also as was stated before, look for depressions in the ground and clearings. old rock walls, annual flowers like tulips are a good sign. also fruit trees like apple and cherry trees could be a good sign. hope some of this helps. good luck!

 

[dandan]

Lilacs do not propigate. No seeds. So as far as I know where theres a lilac there is a house!