Historical commission

[DelcoGreg]

Hello -

I recently received a mailing from my local historical commission and it spurred a wacky thought I'd like to bounce off of you folks. It seems they have a little 'museum' where they house donated artifacts from the area. They also recently purchased a 24 acre homestead property that is well over 100 years old (probably more than 200) using some open space funds. They are just starting to solicit funds to save the barn on the property. My idea is that I contact them and offer my MD services - they let me detect, I turn over my finds to the historical commission. Do you think this has any chance of success or am I just going to give them a good laugh?

I am thinking that it would be fun just to hunt these prime locations and maybe it would lead to some connections to get onto other properties where I wouldn't have to be as philanthropic with my finds. Of course I realize the worse they can do is say no, but I don't want to draw the attention of this particular group of people unless there is at least a slim chance that something might come of it.

Has anyone ever gotten a deal like this - or heard of someone who tried it?

Thanks,

Greg

 

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[daytondigger]

I say "go for it", I've done presentations for local historical societies and they enjoy the items so much that a wealth of knowledge and offers to dig pour in. I'm also a "privydigger' and have gotten many permissions this way. Local papers love to do articles on this kind of stuff. I've been in two local papers.

 

[TreasureTales]

A couple of my friends and I offer to do that type of thing for local historical groups. We will be metal detecting around a stage stop in a couple of weeks. It seems to be a great way to highlight the good work that detectorists can do, plus we get to keep any modern coins we find. Often the greatest satisfaction for us when we're doing this type of volunteer work is from the knowledge that we have contributed to our history, and you should see how excited the historical society people get when we dig up an old spoon or padlock. It is fun and has led to some hunting on private property. Try it, you'll like it.

 

[willie d]

Do it! What's the worst thing that can happen? I've been kicking the idea around myself. My local historical society is only open 2 days a week, so it's tough to get in there when they are open. I've got a few items I like to show them and get info on. If you don't get an immediate response, you never know , they may keep your info on file for future use. They may also pass your info along to someone else that you could help. Quick example: I sent an e-mail to the city manager here about some older property that the city had just purchased that I wanted to search. I was denied access. So I thought "great, another city official slamming the door on my hopes of a good find." A couple days later, I get home from work and there's a message on my answering machine from a reporter with the local paper. You never know.

 

[DelcoGreg]

OK, so maybe it isn't such a hair-brained idea. I was reading the posts about how relics and such are supposed to be left in-place in some state and national parks and thought maybe the historical commission people would be feel the same about disturbing the site. I am going to give it a try and will report back if I hear anything one way or the other.

Thanks for the feedback.

Greg