parkersburg

[Excavator]

When my friend is back from vacation, I'm supposed to get a map for the Stile's mansion.

 

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[jeffmrgan]

had been thinking the town was in the area of the park, or over the hill around the crossroads. But it seems like it should be in the area of the hotel.
..............................what hotel?

 

[jeffmrgan]

went to stiles mansion site today,much too overgrown right now

 

[-buzzkill]

went to stiles mansion site today,much too overgrown right now

i was warned of the copperheads at the stiles mansion this time of year.

 

[jeffmrgan]

didnt see any snakes but found about 10 ticks

 

[Excavator]

..............................what hotel?

Haven't had time to look for info Jeff, but I remember reading newspapaper articles stating Stiles mansion and hotel at Volcano

Not sure if my friend is going to produce the map or not.

 

[bigmac58]

I sure would like the opportunity to hunt with some experienced people. Is there a club or anything near parkersburg or Wood County that anyone knows of. I'm trying to learn this on my own and having little luck.

 

[chrisanddiane]

tried to find exact location of the town of volcano that burned down, in the late 1800's cant find it except where the stiles mansion was

I can walk you to the front door of stiles, as well as many other places in the Volcano area. Live about 2 miles from walker on Walker rd.relatively new to the hobby but working at it, got good gear (V3... sweeeet). Also kind of a mapping fool. I'd like to get totgether with some people, maybe start some kind of ...group (club sounds lame). My wife works at the Hillbilly Inn on 47 and she has an Ace250 and better luck than me. I have no fear of the cold, so I'm out in all weather except rain.

Here's a screen shot of google earth with just some of my book marks. Green pins are schools shown on a 1904 map I have.

drop me a line [email protected] or on AIM bababuuee

 

[chrisanddiane]

Hey Dave, diamondb, ever have any luck around Eaton's Tunnel?

Went out there to look around the old train station, found it completely gone and couldn't find the exact spot where it had been. Looked privately owned too.

Found plenty of pull tabs in the buried tunnel, (place smelled like an outhouse too) and picked up a couple of telegraph insulators.

The Train station was located at the first pull off on the right coming from Walker. It's prior to the crossing. If you are standing facing that pull off, look to the left in on the creek bank on the rail side and you will see a stone foundation down near the water. That was part of the complex. Directly across the tracks from that would have been the actual station, there's no stones but a big pile of rotted logs in the vicinity. It's not private property, it's part of R's to T's and they don't care as long as you aren't leaving holes. I'll hack off that section of an 1886 map I have. down the road from that is a friend of mine (Paul) who has that great big yard that I still think was used as a camp for various reasons over the years (Pre Civil war oil, civil war, tunnel building,etc) He said i can detect there anytime I want, thought it had a lot of potential for a groupas it's a fairly big area (atleast 4 acres.) I found some old junk there but never really hit hard as i never could decide where to start, just kinda wandered around with the ace.

Hope this helps someone
Chris and Diane

 

[bigmac58]

I've become a map fool also. Google Earth is a great tool and I've begun to overlay old maps I have onto it for sites I'm interested in hunting. Makes it really cool to see how things have changed (and how a lot is actually still the same). I'm embarrassed to admit I've spent hours doing this. Also, any idea on how to access the Sanborn maps? The public library doesn't offer them.

I would love to be part of a "group" if one ever forms in the area. I've never hunted with anyone before and would like the opportunity to learn from more experienced people.

 

[chrisanddiane]

I have to admit i have spent way to much time on google earth playing with old maps. I have atleast 100 overlays, below is my personal favorite becuase it took me a few hours to assemble the old map from from some flash-enabled web site. It's a great time passer.
Drop me a line sometime and maybe we can get together.

Chris and Diane

 

[bigmac58]

I think the reward is in the time invested in these old maps. I've been able to locate some old home sites using this method that I would have never known existed. Also, I would love the chance to seach some of the sites that the old schools sat on. There are several really close to where I grew up in Belleville and these overlays have helped me pinpoint almost exactly where they were.

The last time I hunted was last spring. I've gotten permission to hunt an old homesite that I'm sure has potential. The old road has long since grown over and the only thing visible today is the well. I'm not real sure where the house actually sat. Hopefully, my dad and I are going to hunt the site again this spring. On my first hunt there I went over the ground fairly quickly and pulled a LOT of trash out of the ground. If the old glass caps for canning were worth anything I'd be a millionaire. But, finding that kind of stuff also dates the spot better and increases the odds that there is some silver there, maybe some old silver. I pulled some odds and ends out including an old buckle. The only coin I found that day was a wheat penny, can't remember the date but it was fairly early. An old map from the area of 1883 doesn't show the home but the topo map from the 20's does so it gives an idea of the age. Below is a pic from a couple years ago of the site from the old road.

Anyway, I would really like the opportunity to join you on a hunt just to get some pointers and gain some knowledge that may take me a long time to aquire. Once the weather turns to the better, that is. Don't do much hunting when it's either frozen or pouring the rain down like we've had recently. I guess I figure if it's been in the ground all this time then it'll still be there when the sun's shining.

Thanks for the invite!

Jeremy

 

[chrisanddiane]

Tell me you hunted the closed school just before Belleville on 68.... my wife and I hammered that yesterday and found, maybe, 30 cents in clad. (the school has some strange stage in front of it now)
As for my bookmarks, you know as well as I do that just becuase it looks good from a satelite orbiting a hundred miles above, at ground level, more often than not, it's crap-o-la.
As for hunting together..we can do that.

Chris

 

[bigmac58]

Tell me you hunted the closed school just before Belleville on 68.... my wife and I hammered that yesterday and found, maybe, 30 cents in clad. (the school has some strange stage in front of it now)
As for my bookmarks, you know as well as I do that just becuase it looks good from a satelite orbiting a hundred miles above, at ground level, more often than not, it's crap-o-la.
As for hunting together..we can do that.

Chris

Acutally, that is the old Humphrey School building, and yes, I have hunted there twice. I found a little clad and a small sterling ring that my daughter is very fond of. While I hunted all the ground around the building, I really concentrated on the steps in the front because as a kid I can remember hanging upside down on those railings. One thing to note about these grounds, it is the site for the Belleville Homecoming which is held every September (hence the stage) so my guess is these grounds are hunted frequently in fall after that event. That's one reason I haven't spent too much time there.


Don't know when I will be able to get out, would like too soon. My dad and I are planning an excursion sometime this spring I hope. Otherwise, I would like to get together sometime and do some digging.

Jeremy

 

[chrisanddiane]

I've been getting out here-n-there. It was beautiful today but I had to fix a friends computer, so while it was running through several nessecary scans and a few un-nessecary scans i hit her yard with the V, found a few wheat pennies including a '30. Still nothing fantastic.
Where are you located?

Chris and Diane

Since you are familiar with the area, this pic was headed "Belleville School House, Belleville WV" figured you might find it useful.

 

[bigmac58]

I think that school sat in old Belleville about 1 mile or so South of the school you searched. The site you got that from has been incredibly useful for research.

I'm presently living in Davisville, but I grew up in Belleville and have done most of my hunting there so far. I'm thinking that detecting isn't a widespread hobby in this area and there are many never before searched sites still around. With all the old homesites available I'm hoping that I can find some silver. To date, the only coins I've dug are clad and a few wheaties. Would be thrilled to dig a merc, never mind a seated or something like that. But you have go get out to find them and I've kinda let the hobby go for a while.

I'm spending some time with the maps this winter in hopes of getting permission to hunt this spring and summer as time permits. Good news is several of the sites I've found are on property of close friends and acquaintances so permission may not be an issue. Have you ever hunted the grounds of the old one room schools that dotted the county? I'm wondering what kinds of finds there are to be found there.

Jeremy

 

[chrisanddiane]

I see you figured out where I got the pic from!
As far as digging silver locally it's few and far between. I'm from Cleveland and I thought we were cheap up there! I always joke with my wife that down here they'd buy a rototiller and tear up the yard if they dropped a dime. We've found some silver, plenty of wheat pennies and i seem to have a penchant for finding Indian heads. As far as the seateds and stuff like that, this area I just don’t think has it in it. But hey, you never know.

The school houses hav had mixed results. Some are good, some not so much. I'd say I've hit about dozen through out the area... the best being Newberry school over off 124 below Belpre, found a pair of indian heads, one being a semi key date in really good condition worth at least a hundred bucks or so.
Buffalo school out in Ritchie county was where I found the real head scratcher ( see pics, below, scratch head, wonder WTF?). If you are using the same map as me (I’m sure you are by the slice you posted) then Buffalo school is on cisco cairo rd just up from 47 (Staunton) on the Elizabeth26se quad. I actually lived across the street from that for 4 years and had no idea.

Most of the schools are long gone now and sit on what I call "under-utilized property".. property that is for all intense and purpose unowned. If there's a house nearby I'll ask, otherwise it's pretty much game on. Most of these schools sat right on the road so it's obvious to the observer I’m not picking their dope plants or shooting their deer.
My wife works at the Hillbilly Inn just up the road from you. She is actually a Davisville native. I’m guessing you live down around the Claywoods new office. Like I said earlier, we live up walker rd about halfway between 47 and Mountwood. We’ll have to get together and compare maps and stuff.

Chris

(the coin is probably not real, BTW)

 

[bigmac58]

You've pinpointed my location pretty close. I've never hunted any of the school sites yet but for some reason think they'd be a great spot and I'm eyeballing one for permission. I don't know much about the life of kids in one room schools but I'm assuming that they really didn't need much money. Plus, finding the location of the outhouse is key, too. As for the silver, I hope to find a little but I agree that it's slim pickings. I would be happy with a '64 rosie and a merc would change my whole way of looking at the hobby. The earliest coin I've dug was a '20's wheat and I've heard that wherever you find the old coins there's silver too. I hope they're right!

From what I can tell, you and I are pretty close to using the same sites for research. Here is what I have in my favorites concerning research. If you have more, please share. Also, how much do you incorporate GPS into your searching? I bought an old Magellan GPS on eBay a while back and when I visit a site I use it to mark the spot and then plot it on my Google Earth when I get home.

http://westvirginia.hometownlocator.com/index.cfm, http://www.wvculture.org/history/education/schoolphotos.html, http://www.davidrumsey.com/, http://historical.mytopo.com/quadlist.cfm?stateabr=WV, http://www.historicmapworks.com/Atlas/US/7875/Wood+County+1886/, http://gis.kimballdata.com/woodcounty/ (this one is on the county website and shows the property lines, useful to see who owns what).

Jeremy

 

[jeffmrgan]

cool map sites,i also hunted the school in belleville, found a couple of wheats and a silver ring. would be nice to be in some of the colonial states, those guys seem to do very well. silver seems to be hard for me to find as well,think i probably find more silver rings than silver coins. lots of wheats and an indian head here and there.

 

[bigmac58]

cool map sites,i also hunted the school in belleville, found a couple of wheats and a silver ring. would be nice to be in some of the colonial states, those guys seem to do very well. silver seems to be hard for me to find as well,think i probably find more silver rings than silver coins. lots of wheats and an indian head here and there.

Found one silver ring and some clad there. That's where I went to elementary school in the early 80's so I'm guessing a lot of little silver trinket jewelry might be around. So far, I've never found any indians or busted into the 1800's. Mostly clad and some wheats.

I've got some site I want to hunt this spring including a few of the sites where the one-room schools sat as well as some homesites from early 1900's. Also, I'm going to ask permission to hunt the property of a lady I work with. She owns a home in the historic Julianna district and I'm hoping to find a little silver there. Who knows.

Jeremy