Dave Rishar
Silver Member
Bremerton. Just getting back into it after a hiatus of nearly a decade. Prior to that, I did some relic hunting around old homesteads. My old Tesoro did pretty good on the relics, so we'll see how it does on coins and jewelry.
I'm new to Bremerton but I've been doing my homework and I'm quite fortunate in that one of my coworkers is an old-timer who was born and raised here, and is good for "boots on the ground" intel from the sixties on. He's already helped me quite a bit in determining where not to go, as some of the obvious local spots have been built up, graded down, or were even former Superfund sites that have had most of the surface soil removed and replaced in the past. He's also passed on a few pointers that the history books didn't contain - old schools that were removed in the seventies on land that's still public, where certain business used to be, etc. I've got a few leads now that aren't too obvious and may actually be virgin.
In the meantime, I'm going to focus on private property - no concerns about vague laws and such, and since most of West Bremerton predates WWII, I'm sure that there are things to find. I'd really like to get out to Seabeck though, as it's a much older town with an arguably wilder past than Bremerton's. (But make no mistake about that: whatever you think about Bremerton now, it was a pretty crazy and dangerous place in the early twentieth century. Were they only to tear up some of those parking lots for a few days...)
Saturday will be the first day back in the saddle. I'll let you all know how it goes, but I have a good feeling about it. My friend (the owner) tells me that the property has remained in the same family since 1935; it's in Charleston way back by Forest Ridge, so the lot size is quite a bit larger than what we have over in Bremerton proper. It's been well-maintained and is nice and clear. The previous owners had a reputation for fastidiousness, so while there may not be any treasure troves there, I'm hoping that the trash content is smaller than what I normally deal with.
In the four years that I've been living here, I don't recall seeing a single person with a metal detector. Is it not a popular thing around here, or do I just not get out enough? I don't recall having seen any back in Silverdale when I lived there either, and I was there for the better part of a decade.
I'm new to Bremerton but I've been doing my homework and I'm quite fortunate in that one of my coworkers is an old-timer who was born and raised here, and is good for "boots on the ground" intel from the sixties on. He's already helped me quite a bit in determining where not to go, as some of the obvious local spots have been built up, graded down, or were even former Superfund sites that have had most of the surface soil removed and replaced in the past. He's also passed on a few pointers that the history books didn't contain - old schools that were removed in the seventies on land that's still public, where certain business used to be, etc. I've got a few leads now that aren't too obvious and may actually be virgin.
In the meantime, I'm going to focus on private property - no concerns about vague laws and such, and since most of West Bremerton predates WWII, I'm sure that there are things to find. I'd really like to get out to Seabeck though, as it's a much older town with an arguably wilder past than Bremerton's. (But make no mistake about that: whatever you think about Bremerton now, it was a pretty crazy and dangerous place in the early twentieth century. Were they only to tear up some of those parking lots for a few days...)
Saturday will be the first day back in the saddle. I'll let you all know how it goes, but I have a good feeling about it. My friend (the owner) tells me that the property has remained in the same family since 1935; it's in Charleston way back by Forest Ridge, so the lot size is quite a bit larger than what we have over in Bremerton proper. It's been well-maintained and is nice and clear. The previous owners had a reputation for fastidiousness, so while there may not be any treasure troves there, I'm hoping that the trash content is smaller than what I normally deal with.
In the four years that I've been living here, I don't recall seeing a single person with a metal detector. Is it not a popular thing around here, or do I just not get out enough? I don't recall having seen any back in Silverdale when I lived there either, and I was there for the better part of a decade.
