Owner of old town dump....Diggers?

[miketroyer]

HI,
I just joined tonight.
I own 6 acres of property that used to be the old town dump that was closed back in the 50's or 60's.
The property is located in Sault Ste Marie Michigan.

I've found several interesting items on the surface and shallow digging.
Bottles, medicine bottles, toys, auto parts, tea mugs.
I've never dug deeper than 2'.

I'd like to find out how to contact someone or a group that would like to dig this site.
Either for education, fun, or profit.
Any suggestions are welcome.

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

reply

HI,
I just joined tonight.
I own 6 acres of property that used to be the old town dump that was closed back in the 50's or 60's.
The property is located in Sault Ste Marie Michigan.

I've found several interesting items on the surface and shallow digging.
Bottles, medicine bottles, toys, auto parts, tea mugs.
I've never dug deeper than 2'.

I'd like to find out how to contact someone or a group that would like to dig this site.
Either for education, fun, or profit.
Any suggestions are welcome.

If you mean 1950s/60s (verses 1850s/60s), then you're not going to get much interest. What's the earliest age/usage of the dump? Unless it's prior to 1900, it's going to be out-of-the interest scope of most bottle diggers.

 

[Lafitte Deux]

At the bottom of the forum list is Treasure by Location.
Here is the forum for your state. Michigan
You might find some info on groups there.

 

[mical66]

this may show my ignorance , but i would be afraid to did in a old city landfill due to methane gases . i know newer dumps put down fabric under the garbage to help contain run off and vent pipes to help vent gases . am i wrong to think this ?

 

[ryaan21]

My family is originally from the Soo, spent a lot of time there as a youngster and sill visit my family there from time to time. Ide like to take a poke around at it next time I am in town. The Soo is one of the oldest cities in the USA. All of my dad and moms sides of the family were from the Soo originally. I see a guy from there recently got signed with the Cleveland Browns.

I used to live in the trailer park kinda out near Sherman Park, I went to Mckinley and Lincoln schools. Grew up part of my life on Bingham street. 900 block. Lotsa old ass houses in the soo, tons of old yards.

My great aunt owned a 3 story victorian near the old bank building, there is a ball field on the corner of that block. The house had one of those old dumb waiters in it. Lotsa great memories of the Soo.

 

[jeff of pa]

this may show my ignorance , but i would be afraid to did in a old city landfill due to methane gases . i know newer dumps put down fabric under the garbage to help contain run off and vent pipes to help vent gases . am i wrong to think this ?

I don't know either mical,
But My guess older Dumps are probably safer then the ones with Liners.
The liners would hold liquids up, causing mixing and gasses to form.

where older dumps would drain down allowing the Grounds Natural recycling abilities
to purify those liquids.

Like digging an old outhouse.
nothing there to harm you unless your frail,
and have no immune system.
or like chewing on dirt, & drinking what's left in bottles.

My guess today's Landfills are Preserving & creating Disease.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Methane and bacteria are no worry at an old dump. Keep in mind people years ago didn't waste nearly as much food as they do now, and whatever did go to the dump was picked clean by animals usually. The only thing really to worry about is tetanus if you cut yourself on something. One thing though is don't open any sealed containers that still have stuff in them, I found a sealed jar filled with what turned out to be almost pure arsenic rat poison in it once, and I'm really glad I didn't get any on me. Also just because a dump dates back to a certain time doesn't mean there won't be older stuff in there, people tend to throw away old stuff all the time. Also a lot of dumps were unofficial before they became the official city dump, so who knows how long people were using that spot. If I lived up that way I'd love to come out and dig in it with you.

 

[miketroyer]

The trailer park near sherman park is L&M Trailer Prk. My property is very close to this park. Mckinley school is gone now...There's a new assisted living there.
Next time your in the area.....send me an email ahead of time. [email protected]
From test holes i've dug with an old ice auger....there is 1' to 2' of dirt/clay covering. I've got 1 area that is nothing but glass bottles. 1 area is old building material.
From what i can tell, the property on both sides of me were also part of the dump. This area was used before the actual city dump was used which was located up on 3 Mile Rd. near the radar base. That dump closed down in the early 90's. Most of my bottles are dated 50's & 60's. They were found less than 2' below the surface.
From the few stories i've heard, my area had deep pits dug and people would back up to them and throw stuff in.
A small backhoe would be fun to use for a day.