How do I find old foundations?

[Treasureman25]

Hey guys I'm lookin all over the net for maps of my town..old old maps preferably. There's a lot of farm fields here now. Hoping I can find where a foundation has been plowed into a field. Can any of you point me in the right direction or to a web site I can look at some old maps on??
Thanks

 

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[vpnavy]

Wow - you posted this exact same question on three different forums - you didn't mention your state (or country) - but you might consider jumping over to Sub-Forums: Select Your Area.... and selecting your state for information (i.e., clubs, hunts, finds, legends, maps, etc.) directly related to your state (or country).

 

[jeff of pa]

just a friendly note, there is No need to post so many times asking the same question.
You will find you get less attention this way .

 

[Treasureman25]

Ok. I understand. Sorry if I offended anybody. I'm new to this.

 

[doc-d]

Not sure where you live, but here in upstate NY, I have found 8 old foundations by driving and looking....
Found 2 old, one room, schools on an old town map; found the other foundations by looking for anything that seemed out of place.......now here some rock piles are from farmers piling them up from their fields, some rock piles are old foundations.......driving along the road, look, get out and most of the ones I found are close to the road..........now living on a rural road with little traffic makes this easy for me........not sure of your AO

 

[RotZorn]

I'll forgive you!!! Lol. When you become a member of any forums- people expect you to contribute, even if its only socially. Stick around and hit the pages some you might even make a few friends!

Ok, the local chamber of commerce or your library will be good starting points..... And..... People! Talk to people, locally- people are your most abundant resource. Now, interpreting what they tell you into usable information is a skill you'll have to develop in time. Play private eye a little, and be careful when you speak to them.

Also, remember to respect any land you hunt- " low impact diggin'" is what I call it. Try to leave any property as close to possible the way you found it- and you might wanna get permission before you just go digging on someone else's land.......Where I come from that kind of thing will only find you buckshot! Good luck!

 

[Talon]

I've had luck looking on Google Maps/ Google Earth. Also look for Historic maps and you will find a variety of links that might work for you.

 

[christo000]

Buddy of mine told me recently historicmapworks.com in just getting uses to it but alot of info here just click on the basic versión its free so cant hurt to look I been very busy on there cuz relic hunting & looking for research on how my town & surrounding towns came to be is exciting

 

[Treasureman25]

Awesome info guys! Thankyou! I live smack dab in the middle of wisconsin. Farm fields and river bottoms. There's a few foundations around to check out that I know of just from hunting this area my whole life. I was just trying to see what was around that is perhaps a field now. With the info I got from all of you I should be able to find some sort of map. Thanks again.

 

[mccloud39]

Go check west bend out!!!!

 

[gunsil]

I got good quality reprints of 1854 and 1876 maps of my county from my local historical society. Check out what yours has. I like having the large paper copies since I can then mark off places I have investigated and make notes on those I have found. These maps also list the owners' names of the properties.

 

[bush13st_beav3r]

Let me tell ya, uve come to the right place in your quest for wisdom.... These guys are awesome and will learn you well.. historicmapworks is great... Also, sanborn maps, and hisoricaerials and davidrumsey.com. ...but, I tend to do like others have mentioned...find the people...ask the people... ....ill start a quest at my local library that has a whole room of local info...papers, atlases, local books, etc...then that leads me to the historical and genealogical society, then eventually ill go to c my ladies at the registrar of deeds and proceed to find out who owns the land and where I can find them...

Research and permission getting are two different beasts tho... Never go up in your gear actin like your going to dig to China....NEVER say dig either... Ppl just think u r there to destroy what's theirs... I always tend to focus my perms "speach" on the historical value of what's under the surface... I tell them how I'd like to donate anything of great historical value to the museum like I've done in my old hometown, and people will open up their hearts and homes to you, I try to watch them (not too creepily lol) to c if anything I talk about gets them going (n a good or bad way) and if I c they r into history, I talk more on that...if coins tickle their fancy, I show em some old silver I carry on me to test depth at new areas.. ...people can be persuaded if you know how to talk to them... While this isn't EXACTLY how I go about getting perms every time, its damn close and I've never been told no..... ..but, my mom always told me I could sell holy water to the devil...

Hope some of this helps you and I hope you post up your great digs..

Ohh yah, almost forgot... If and when I mention to them metal detecting and their face says wtf!noooo... I'll immediately say "wait...you've seen that show...blah blah blah and seen them ruin a yard w a backhoe or excavator...that's not me...I hate that show bc it puts a bad light on us and the way we recover targets gets misconstrued", then They laugh and we carry on...

I moved to this town 5 months ago, and bc of metal detecting a lot of ppl know me and I them, and if they c me w my gear, they talk to me like I'm their lifelong best friend....which is great....one door opened can usually lead you to another one...or ten...

GL&HH

-beav3r

 

[mr helton]

Buddy of mine told me recently historicmapworks.com in just getting uses to it but alot of info here just click on the basic versión its free so cant hurt to look I been very busy on there cuz relic hunting & looking for research on how my town & surrounding towns came to be is exciting

This is actually a pretty neat site!

 

[christo000]

This is actually a pretty neat site!

When I was reserching my town I only found one map, my hunting partner told me about this & it seems endless.Happy u like it

 

[Treasureman25]

Thanks a lot guys...I'm liking this forum thing more and more. An thanks bush 13 I don't think I'll have too big of a complex getting permission to detect private property around my area here. I'm already pretty well known as I've been trapping coyote an coon on people's land all around an asked a lot of permission privileges on private property already. Common manners is a must...with older people I always use my yes sir an maams..especially since I'm only 25. Their elders an I always give them my utmost respect. Actually same gos for pretty much everyone older than me. Respect most always works for me. I give it out and I get it back. I've never burnt a bridge yet with this mentality. I did get a lot of no's asking to trap. As some people find it in humane. Which I understand and respect their point of view. I was always and still am just as optimistic to ask the next owner though. You have a very good point where you do have to be intuitive with the person your talking to and be sure to fully explain what your doing.

 

[mapman]

I have a idea on this subject. Go to Bureau Of Land Management for your state and search for (on their site) original l survey plats. There is a master site for most all states. You will find some very good map plats covering a 36 mile square area. Some times they will show a building and the name of the owner at the time of the survey. I have seen some where they draw a little house. When you get the location you can then get an Google Earth maps and see the site today.
I would be most happy to help any one and walk them through the process. Please contact me at oldusmaps.com and I will set you up with Sanborn maps and BLM maps at no charge. For a small fee I can get you into any state for your sanborn maps.

 

[mapman]

I have a link for all to try. You may want to contact me for instructions but for old survey maps use this link Search - BLM GLO Records Some simple steps is to click on the surveys, then pick a state. You have the option to pick county and even township and ranges if you know where you want to look for stuff. But for oldest maps you must pick down near the bottom the maps source of original survey for the old maps. You can even read some of the note if they have been scanned. I saw a notation on one map gold bearing quarts. At this site you can look up mineral claims by owners name. Do contact me through my web page oldusmaps.com and I will be most happy to help.

 

[DiggingwithBay]

This has been good info for me as well. Thanks all!