Dig it or not???

[YoungBlood]

I'm going to skip the story and cut right to the chase. There is this late 1700s early 1800s ghost town I got an invite to metal detect only very few people know about it, there is tons of great history and it is perfectly preserved. While I'm there should I do any excavation (probably one of the privys) or should I leave it the way it is?

 

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[Dixiegal]

I would find out where the saloon, bank, general store etc were and detect around those for coins.

 

[GrizLeeBear]

I would let the metal detector do the discovery. Dig where it tells you.

 

[Rawhide]

I dig everything but graves. But to maximize your time I would dig the more accessible areas. If you have access to old photos or plat maps I would take advantage of them. I don't really have much civil war stuff here to hunt. But I would look for trenchs, do the shallow crossing areas of the creek, and try to find the roads in and out of town. The oldest biggest tree if you have old timber there will help also. I would use a large coil and max sensitivity. Of course if privy digging is your thing, dig that first.

 

[YoungBlood]

I would find out where the saloon, bank, general store etc were and detect around those for coins.

This was your basic backwoods, in the middle of no where, hillbilly town if you didn't live off the land and your FEW visits to town you didn't live. Two of the guys even lived in a cave and owned a model T in the mid-50s. They were the last two who lived in the town, and probably the only ones with a car.

 

[YoungBlood]

I've got several different opinions here, should I just metal detect or should I do a bigger dig.

 

[releventchair]

If i only had one shot at it i,d coin shoot it. The old wherever the largest amount of people gathered on occasion or where a few gathered often.
For caches i,d tour the suspected garden areas or back yards. Fence corners and usual suspects. Really depends on your passion,if its a privy bottle or whatever so be it. Have fun whatever you decide.

 

[surf]

 

[YoungBlood]

If I get to go ill post my finds, metal detecting and excavation.

 

[goodie hunter]

I hunt Ghost Towns all the time. FYI, which you may already know, if you happen to find several coins in a small area, you probably found what was
the back door to a saloon. Back in the day, Native Americans could only be served through the back door and a goodly amount of change was lost
there.

 

[goodie hunter]

I guess I should expand my reasons for trying to find the back door to the saloons. Once that area is found, one can move 30 feet or so forward and find the front side
of the building. Once done, you probably have found the boardwalk area that ran along the street and in front of other storefronts. The boardwalk is another bonnanza
area for finding coins. Piece your finding together and you can find the other side of the street and its boardwalk.

 

[YoungBlood]

I guess I should expand my reasons for trying to find the back door to the saloons. Once that area is found, one can move 30 feet or so forward and find the front side
of the building. Once done, you probably have found the boardwalk area that ran along the street and in front of other storefronts. The boardwalk is another bonnanza
area for finding coins. Piece your finding together and you can find the other side of the street and its boardwalk.

This town doesn't have a bank, store, post office, saloon or anything like that it doesn't even have a boardwalk if you wanted to see your neighbor it was a HIKE up or down the hill.

 

[Brian C.]

It sounds like a great spot, as I see it, if you enter private land with the land owners okay, I would be very careful on how much of a mess you want to make. If I were the land owner and some one made a big mess on my land and not cleaned it up, I would come looking for you and make you clean up any mess, then I would put my foot up your;;;. If you are smart you will keep this location to your self, the more people involved or find out out about it, will ruin it for alot of others in the area that might like to detect.. This maybe is not what you have in mind, but be careful who you tell. I respect all my land owners fields, this is why I can return for many years to all my sites, I detect by my self for one reason, on the odd time I will bring along a friend, not very often. Good luck.

 

[YoungBlood]

It sounds like a great spot, as I see it, if you enter private land with the land owners okay, I would be very careful on how much of a mess you want to make. If I were the land owner and some one made a big mess on my land and not cleaned it up, I would come looking for you and make you clean up any mess, then I would put my foot up your;;;. If you are smart you will keep this location to your self, the more people involved or find out out about it, will ruin it for alot of others in the area that might like to detect.. This maybe is not what you have in mind, but be careful who you tell. I respect all my land owners fields, this is why I can return for many years to all my sites, I detect by my self for one reason, on the odd time I will bring along a friend, not very often. Good luck.

I agree 100 percent I always leave a god impression no matter how well I know them.

 

[Brian C.]

I might come off a little heavy, but I feel very strongly about this hobby, I have seen alot of stupid people that like to ruin it for others. I hope you find what you are looking for, read my post in ghost towns. HH

 

[midnightmoon]

If possible, md the cave.

 

[YoungBlood]

If possible, md the cave.

I will if I can find it. I know where it's at, but I went looking for I once before but couldn't find it. The guy I'll be with knows where it's at though and how to get to it.