Manhole Cover

[Lecomte687]

At the end of last year I was metal detecting in the middle of the woods here in northern MA, when I got a ridiculous hit. It was the biggest signal I have ever gotten. So I dug down and about 4 inches down I hit gravel. This seemed weird to me that there would be gravel buried in the woods, so I went back over it to see if was just a trash signal somewhere in the dirt above the gravel, but I was still getting the signal from under the gravel. I dug six inches of gravel to find this manhole cover sitting on top of dirt. it looks wicked old and has one side that has been worn flat from years id picking it up and putting it back down. i kept it and im not sure what to do with it, is it worth anything? is it worth just scrap? does anyone know anything about this or how old it is?

 

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[ClovisOak]

That's neat not sure how old, but maybe an old homesite with a septic field that the woods has taken over? This would have been used to cover a clean out possibly. or... maybe something or some treasure buried deeper down? Good luck.

 

[Tom Bigbee]

Kudos to you for digging that thing up. A lot of detectorists would have said to heck with that! I would try to find out what the lettering stands for. Did you recheck the spot to see if there was anything metallic under it?

 

[Lecomte687]

Kudos to you for digging that thing up. A lot of detectorists would have said to heck with that! I would try to find out what the lettering stands for. Did you recheck the spot to see if there was anything metallic under it?

Yeah I actually fractured a vertebrate getting out if the woods, which put me in the er and out of commission for a few weeks lol. I checked if there was anything buried below, but no luck. Thanks for commenting!

 

[WolfmoonX]

I saw the title of this thread and said to myself, "Please don't let it be a SIGMA." I work for SIGMA Corporation: Welcome to SIGMA Corporation That deals with piping products, including manholes. The territory in partucular that I deal with (from here in Jersey) includes MA. That particular cover is from Metropolitan Water Works "MET WW". I'm not sure of the age. As luck would have it.... there is a Metropolitan Watersorks Museum in Boston that you can contact if you really want to know specifics. Waterworks

 

[dig kzoo]

Cool find, hope your back heals up soon. HH

 

[Lecomte687]

Cool find, hope your back heals up soon. HH

It's all better now, now I'm just itchin to get out, the snow finally melted here yesterday, this weekend can't come soon enough!

 

[Fitzwilk]

That thing likes very heavy. Glad to hear your back is healed up. Be careful out there.

 

[pa plateau hiker]

Thanks to a manhole cover, my 3 year old daughter leaned how to spell "sewer". Years ago we spent a week camping at Pymatuning State Park and every time she went to the little girls room, she walked over a cover that had sewer written on it. To this day she knows where she learned that word.

 

[Lecomte687]

I saw the title of this thread and said to myself, "Please don't let it be a SIGMA." I work for SIGMA Corporation: Welcome to SIGMA Corporation That deals with piping products, including manholes. The territory in partucular that I deal with (from here in Jersey) includes MA. That particular cover is from Metropolitan Water Works "MET WW". I'm not sure of the age. As luck would have it.... there is a Metropolitan Watersorks Museum in Boston that you can contact if you really want to know specifics. Waterworks

Thanks wolf, I emailed the museum, I'll post their reply when they get back to me.

 

[WolfmoonX]

Thanks wolf, I emailed the museum, I'll post their reply when they get back to me.

Good deal. Here is another link that might help.

Cambridge MA Manhole Covers Etc. Page

 

[Lecomte687]

I got a response from Boston waterworks;

This isn’t that unusual. The Metropolitan Water Works began using these covers upon creation in 1895 and used specific types to identify what was in the manhole. In this case, it was an isolation valve or “gate” valve. These were installed wherever the pipes were layed and the MWW laid about 100 miles of pipe in the first decade after 1895, including many in streets and some in off-road areas like Fells Reservation. There are older types in some of our communities.
We still use the same covers today and replace them only when they break or go missing. We have patterns with certain foundries for casting the specific types.
By the way, please be careful with what you do with it. We have put out advisories via State Police for local metal recycling yards to have to report any persons bringing in these covers since, with the price of metal, we get some cover thefts from time to time.

Lol so it looks like I won't be scrapping it, anybody wanna buy It? Lol
Thanks to all who commented for the input.

 

[dig kzoo]

Cool story!

 

[Gunrunner61]

A neat story for sure, And a cool relic...................HH