Finding home sites using geography, old wells, trees or flowers

[ADHD_Outdoors]

What is your best advice for locating old home sites?
I've got a few good ideas but I'm always looking for different ways to do so.

I live in a very rural county which the majority of land is owned privately by timber companies and I have access to quite a bit of that land.
What we all know: After WWs I and II, many of the smaller communities died when people moved closer to towns with mills and other stable work, some of this due to farms growing up while the men were fighting in foreign wars and sold to timber companies.

Over the years I've found old wells, a lot of old home sites from daffodils (a common flower in our area), some in relation to known Indian camps and fewer now than ever by word of mouth. Our local museum is also a wealth of information.

 

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[CaptEsteban]

The evidence of old homesites can be round depressions, which may have been a well or privy. Rocks/bricks aligned with each other, Flowers , wild vegetables in alignment . Rocks spaced equidistant apart which could be the foundation. Profusion of nails in an area could be the ruins of a roof. Fruit trees in the area.
My favorite ;
If there are large trees on the property, look for depressed rings around the trees that are head-high. Look for a 2nd tree like that, too. This can be where an old clothesline was . Clear the area between them about 18" wide in a straight line & detect. Pants hung upside down can easily drop coins, which can help you date the site, & many coins will be silver & valuable. Once in a while, a wedding band or other ring will be in that area.

 

[DanMcG]

great topic ADHD

 

[tamrock]

I noticed as I use to travel to northern Nevada along the old trans continental RR route I would see small areas of trees and vegetation in areas of mostly barren country. These spots would be just about exactly where an old watering station would be that was once along the old grade. I'd stop for a look around at a couple of those areas and find old busted glass bottles and soldered top metal cans tossed about, but I knew I was at a site that once had a name that was long gone. Sometimes you could even find a little readable history of the place online.

 

[1637]

i have my laptop hooked up to my 65 tv and use google earth. i pick a dirt road or railroad tracks and mark 10 or more spots that looks man make. then me and the dog go out and find them.first thing i do is look for cans so i can date the site. some times we pull up and see something newer,cross it off the list and keep going. like ( they) say boots on the ground. its just fun to get the ---- out of the house

 

[CaptEsteban]

This can require a little more work.

Look for possible homesites on hills, higher ground , that ' look " to be square, as a foundation would have been . Look for large trees surrounding this area, especially on the WEST side . Look for items I mentioned in the previous posts. That could have been a shade tree planted to block the afternoon heat. Two sides of that area would most likely have doors . If you have a GOOD , DEEP detector, search the entire area , for all metal & around the trees. Dig it all.

 

[ARC]

Check out to see if any Lidar images exist yet of your areas of interest.
This is the future and its here now.
Lidar images are few yet its catching up... lidar survey maps might exist if you dig online hard enough.
These can be maps of the past activity for sure.

 

[LandSeig]

You can access the USGS LiDAR maps on your smartphone now. I like using the hillside stretched overlay for more detail.

The National Map - Advanced Viewer

apps.nationalmap.gov

 

[Ed144]

Here in Pinal county Arizona I've noticed that old mine sites often have Iris plants. I think the miners wives would plant Irises at the cabins or tents if they stayed long enough. I know one remote site that dates from about 1885 where the Irises have multiplied to perhaps 1000 plants covering about 5000 square feet.