Mystery Structure & Finds

[xxlt250rxx]

While exploring a friend's newly acquired property we found this out in the woods. It’s about out 5’ x 5’ x 5’ square with a slopped top. It use to have a door with a lock. Of course we immediately took the Garrett’s out and found the items in the picture below. The item shown were dug around the front. No houses within a quarter mile. We did find an old fence line nearby. Any idea what it was used for and what the objects found are.

 

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[osage express]

The two flat items are from an ice tray.You may be on an old homesite.You might have found a well house.is there a hole in the floor.

 

[Breezie]

The round items look like the bottom ends to rolled biscuit tubes.

Interesting buildings
Breezie

 

[flyadive]

I feel the structure is a spring house, they would use it to store can foods and drinks. A natural refrigerator.

 

[curt_in_wmass]

There is one almost exactly like it in town nearby me, had locking door at one time...was told it was to store dynamite in...no idea if any truth to this as still trying to figure out why they were storing dynamite where this structure is...maybe road construction and wanted to keep it locked up out in the woods...almost makes sense.Also one nearby is out in the woods,no nearby houses..odd to see by itself.

 

[xxlt250rxx]

My first thought was to store explosives but storing food makes sense too. Those do look like the end of the biscuit tubes. There are no holes in it other than the small door shown in the pic. It is odd out there by its self.

 

[BosnMate]

Powder magazines for storing dynamite are usually way off away from people and houses etc. Perhaps there was a store selling dynamite in town, they can't legally keep the explosives there.

 

[allen_idaho]

I think those are the remains of some chewing tobacco containers, not biscuit tubes.

 

[BosnMate]

I think I'm wrong on dynamite. Looking at the round things, they look like lids to 25 pound metal black powder kegs. The lids on those kegs didn't screw on, opening the keg was accomplished by pushing on the center of the lid and it would pop open. To close the keg, the lid was pushed on the edge and it poped closed. I think you found a magazine for storing black powder, either for resale, or for use as blasting powder by a local company. Here are some photos of what I'm thinking.
The last picture is an empty keg that has part of it cut away, but the opening for the lid can be see.

 

[Breezie]

When I was a kid, there was a stone building in the woods that looked a lot like this one. My parents told me not to play around it because it was a dynamite shack. The DOT was building an Interstate highway close by, and it was 'said' they used this building to store explosives for the road construction.

As far as the round rusted items are concerned, they could be the lid or end panels to almost any type of cylindrical container, but what made me think of biscuits (other than the shape/size/lip edge), they were found with ice tray dividers. Perhaps at one time it was an explosive storage building, but then later was used as a 'spring house' to keep items cool.


Breezie