Mystery House Journal

[robertk]

Just about the time I got my new Deus II, I was looking at an old map of my neighborhood and discovered that in 1940, there was a house sitting in what is now my front yard. This surprised me greatly, so I started hunting old photos and found a 1955 aerial photo, with no trace of the house. So it was there sometime before 1940 to get "on the map", but was completely vanished by 1955.

So I worked out the distances from the old map and got a good guess to where the house was, and started hunting. I quickly discovered that my entire front yard is littered with iron.

I don't know when the house was built, but I'm assuming mid to late 1800's. So far I haven't found anything with a date on it, but what little I have found seems to back up those dates.

So I'm starting this thread to post interesting things, mostly for feedback as I try to understand the history of those who were here before I was. Here's some of the stuff I've found so far. Any comments on what they are, or what they are used for, are welcome.

This was identified (thanks to this board!) as a suspender adjuster, pre-1920.


And this one is part of a victorian bed rail attachment.


This one is a spoon, obviously. Silver plated, well worn. I haven't found an exact match on the pattern and I can't quite read the maker's mark, but the stuff I find that's close is in the early 1880's. Interestingly, I found this standing vertically in the ground, big end down. It took some digging to extract it.



I've also found a few shotgun shell end caps. At first I ignored these thinking they were just trash from a careless modern hunter, but after investigating, these are from around 1900 (Union Metal Cartridge Company, "New Club" style, produced between 1891 and 1911).


And some iron stuff...



I've found several of those square nuts. They look like they might be blacksmith-made because while the hole diameter is pretty consistent, the size and thickness of the nut itself varies quite a bit. And that thing that looks like a telegraph insulator is a mystery -- iron wouldn't make a very good insulator.

Then there's this partial plate -- quarter inch thick and heavy. Maybe a stove part?



And then there's this thing.

It's about 8" diameter, about an inch thick, with a 1/4" "rim" around one side, totally flat on the other. And it's heavy -- weighing exactly 2 kilograms (4.4 lbs) in its current state. No obvious handle or anything to indicate use.

So there's what I know so far. I will post more as I discover it...

 

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[robertk]

Life has been keeping me pretty busy lately so not a lot of dig time. But I did get out a little bit over the long weekend. Nothing but iron this time. It's so hard to tell sometimes whether that high chirp you hear is just iron falsing, or something good masked by iron (since if you're digging in this area, it's pretty much a given that there's going to be iron in the hole). These all sounded at least possible, and some even sounded solid and non-ferrous. But they sure look like iron to me.



This one looks like a "foot" to something.


And these two I'm guessing are machinery parts. The bell shaped one reminds me of the cup at the top of a shock absorber/spring assembly. I have no idea on the heart shaped one.


And this one looks to me like the corner of one of those old mortise-style door locks.

 

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[sibbley]

Life has been keeping me pretty busy lately so not a lot of dig time. But I did get out a little bit over the long weekend. Nothing but iron this time. It's so hard to tell sometimes whether that high chirp you hear is just iron falsing, or something good masked by iron (since if you're digging in this area, it's pretty much a given that there's going to be iron in the hole). These all sounded at least possible, and some even sounded solid and non-ferrous. But they sure look like iron to me.

View attachment 2158128

This one looks like a "foot" to something.
View attachment 2158129

And these two I'm guessing are machinery parts. The bell shaped one reminds me of the cup at the top of a shock absorber/spring assembly. I have no idea on the heart shaped one.
View attachment 2158130 View attachment 2158131

And this one looks to me like the corner of one of those old mortise-style door locks.
View attachment 2158132

Nice finds even though they're iron.

 

[releventchair]

Lots of recoveries!

Iron is fun. You want to ignore it but then you don't.
Then you get into a patch of it a want to ignore it but don't.
But let's just acknowledge its there then ignore it. But then a signal is too good. Or you hit a piece of steel and break the monotony. Or something else in with the iron.

Not digging it leaves what might be under it shielded still.
And who knows what an iron object is for sure without seeing it.( If they know then.) Relics are relics.

 

[robertk]

More bits and pieces yesterday. Some big cast iron pieces, a part of a spoon, and what I believe to be a heel plate with the nails still in it.

 

[robertk]

The other day I got a really strong signal on my Deus 2, with a clear and repeatable signal in all directions. VDI of 82, and the horseshoe showed completely non-ferrous. I was hoping for a big chunk of brass or copper. Dug down a foot or so to get to the target, and it was ... cast iron. Fairly disappointing. I can see the VDI being fooled, but having it show completely non-ferrous was a surprise. That's the piece on the top of the photo below. It's about 12 inches long and four inches wide.

So that's the most recent digs. The "copper" cast iron, another cast iron piece (that I knew was iron when I started digging) that looks like part of a stove, with a bit of a "shield" or logo showing on it. There's the obligatory railroad spike, some square nails, a random piece of iron, and a piece of something that looks like maybe a spoon handle with a hole for hanging. In the non-iron department, there's a small rivet, a smashed (fired) bullet, a piece of foil (surface find, not likely to be part of the old home site), and a lid with a bit of the original cork liner still in it.

So not a great day, but it was still nice to get out and dig a little.

 

[robertk]

I've not been able to get out much lately, just got half an hour the other day. Here's what came out of the ground this round. Nothing much, though the little keyhole cover is interesting.

 

[ToddsPoint]

I've not been able to get out much lately, just got half an hour the other day. Here's what came out of the ground this round. Nothing much, though the little keyhole cover is interesting.

View attachment 2165369

 

[robertk]

View attachment 2165370

I guess that's possible, but why the keyhole in the middle of it? Also, it seems rather small for a pedal (sorry, I should have included a size reference before).

 

[Ism]

I guess that's possible, but why the keyhole in the middle of it? Also, it seems rather small for a pedal (sorry, I should have included a size reference before).

View attachment 2165376

Body of a doorbell button?

 

[robertk]

Body of a doorbell button?

Maybe (it’s the right size for a button), but I don’t think so. So far everything I’ve found has led me to believe the place had no indoor plumbing and no electricity. Seems unlikely they’d have had a doorbell.

 

[robertk]

The latest short dig produced these things. Most of them I knew were iron when I dug them, but they were "interesting iron". The nails all have this short little "grunt", so I am ignoring those, but the interesting iron sounds bigger, or varies in tone, or "crackles" or something. So if it sounds interesting, I dig it.

Look like a crank handle to something, a piece of a stove door, some random bits, a couple of nails, a piece of horse tack, a big chunk that looks like a piece of a horseshoe but it twice as thick as a normal horseshoe, and the top an bottom of some kind of container with a threaded top. I wonder if this might have been the body to an oil lamp -- the opening is about the right size for the burners I've found, but it's too bent and rusted to try to attach one. It's the first container I've found with a screw top.

 

[Limitool]

I guess that's possible, but why the keyhole in the middle of it? Also, it seems rather small for a pedal (sorry, I should have included a size reference before).

View attachment 2165376

Might have been attached to an old type chest...?

 

[robertk]

Might have been attached to an old type chest...?

That's what I was thinking. I'm also hoping it was a chest full of gold coins and that it's still out there waiting for me to put my coil over it. But I also know that's just not reality. (In fact if there is a chest, I'm pretty sure it will be packed full of square nails.)

 

[Limitool]

That's what I was thinking. I'm also hoping it was a chest full of gold coins and that it's still out there waiting for me to put my coil over it. But I also know that's just not reality. (In fact if there is a chest, I'm pretty sure it will be packed full of square nails.)

Oh come on guy.... be a little optimistic. I'll make ya a deal.... If you find a chest full of square nails I'll drive on over to Missouri from Tennessee and help for a week detecting and digging that iron rich area. And if you do find that nail chest and I come over.... when/if one of us then finds a chest full of gold coins we then keep our mouths shut, get drunk and sell'em off one or two at a time. I'm not greedy and am blessed to be pretty well set for the rest of my life so 2/3 to 1/3 split will work for me! But I really hope you get that coil over the gold coin chest FIRST....! (Then shutup except for telling me)

 

[robertk]

A few more digs from last evening.

The usual nails, spikes, and cast iron bits and pieces. The glass was just in the hole with other stuff. The strap end at lower left looks just like another one I found a while back. The hinge at upper right is fairly ornate, just hard to see under the dirt.

The head stamp is a PCC League stamp, which is right around the turn of 1900.


And then there's the big cast iron whatsit in the upper left. I haven't a clue what it is. It seems to be one solid piece (even though it looks like it may have been two pieces). Both holes look like they used to go all the way through. I'll post the photos here but will also post on the What Is It forum. Does anyone recognize it?

 

[robertk]

Another day of not much to find.. It doesn't help that I am easily distracted by the deer and spend as much time gawking at them as I do swinging the coil.

The tag is interesting. I'll post in the What Is It for that one too, though it's a long shot beyond the obvious.

 

[Limitool]

Another day of not much to find.. It doesn't help that I am easily distracted by the deer and spend as much time gawking at them as I do swinging the coil.

The tag is interesting. I'll post in the What Is It for that one too, though it's a long shot beyond the obvious.

View attachment 2167177 View attachment 2167174 View attachment 2167176 View attachment 2167175

View attachment 2167178

I too am distracted by them also. I'll be out in the woodshop working and look out the window to watch them in the front yard and all work just stops.

 

[releventchair]

A few more digs from last evening.

View attachment 2167044

The usual nails, spikes, and cast iron bits and pieces. The glass was just in the hole with other stuff. The strap end at lower left looks just like another one I found a while back. The hinge at upper right is fairly ornate, just hard to see under the dirt.

The head stamp is a PCC League stamp, which is right around the turn of 1900.
View attachment 2167042 View attachment 2167034

And then there's the big cast iron whatsit in the upper left. I haven't a clue what it is. It seems to be one solid piece (even though it looks like it may have been two pieces). Both holes look like they used to go all the way through. I'll post the photos here but will also post on the What Is It forum. Does anyone recognize it?

View attachment 2167036 View attachment 2167037 View attachment 2167038
View attachment 2167039 View attachment 2167040 View attachment 2167041

Bottom left pic left side.
Would fit on a pylon and allow the while piece to pivot?
Then it could be used as a dog to hold a gear tooth.

A spring in the other hole would allow it to be a clicker allowing movement one direction but not the other without releasing the dog. Or it's just a stop.

That's all my imagination has.

.

 

[robertk]

Would fit on a pylon and allow the while piece to pivot?
Then it could be used as a dog to hold a gear tooth.

I think you're on the right track. I still don't know exactly what it was part of, but I think that's the function it had.

 

[releventchair]

I think you're on the right track. I still don't know exactly what it was part of, but I think that's the function it had.

I'm still off and wandering.
Barn winch for the loft?

Here's a wagon brake that teases but no , not it.