moholedigger
Jr. Member
OKAY.. OKAY.. So it's not the Edmund Fitzgerald BUT the old Post Office site finally coughed up a couple of keepers.
Sometimes this hobby is frustrating… sometimes it is rewarding.. but for me.. it always seems to be relaxing.
HOWEVER, the old post office/stage coach stop site I have been working my last three times out was starting to frustrate me. This place was operable from 1854-1901 (maybe longer but was NOT on the 1918 county atlas). It has given up a TON of relics (okay, tons of twisted metal, LOL) but no coins. After my last post, where someone suggested that since it was a log cabin I might not find coins, I began to reassess my site. Of the things I could make out I had found a stirrup, part of a horse harness, a partial lid to a kettle, wood splint for hewn logs, a belt buckle, a button, a thimble, half a letter opener, and two parts of a spoon. Seemed like the home site to me. BUT, it seemed scattered over an awfully big area. 20x35.
So I thought on it and decided to head up the hill a little more and see what else I could find. Put my XLT on relics and headed off. Now you have to understand where I am hunting. This is woods, thick with underbrush, even in the dead of winter. You can see maybe 20 feet in front of you, but after that.. well it all starts looking the same. A lot of downed trees and the ones that aren’t down are the low-sprawling kind with the big stickers on them so you need to keep your head on a swivel. Thorny rose bushes everywhere. Good Times, for sure!
I had walked a good thirty feet from the area in all but one direction, so off I started due east, but as I headed out I began to veer northeast due to underbrush. After about 35 feet I noticed a small clearing (10x12) just off to my right. About halfway to it, I started getting excited. This might be the home site with the lower area being a barn. Now my blood was pumping. When I got to the clearing you could see the indentations. It indeed had been a foundation, however, just to the southeast of the clearing was a small pile of dirt. The cabin/house had been dozed (not very well), and it had been some time ago. From the underbrush, I would guess it has been 20 years plus, and the landowner later told me he thought it was probably closer to 35-40, maybe more. Hmm feeling a little unsure as to what I would find, I plowed in anyway.
My first couple of hits made me think I was back down the hill again. Nail, nail, nail, metal banding, chunk of metal … Hmm, Okay. Then I hit a flat button (double gilt, 1790-1840). Better. About 15 minutes later and maybe three feet from the button came my first coin from the site. A 1903 V Nickel. Finally, I had broken through.
Then I hit the cleared pile of dirt. After digging some nails and small pieces of metal I got a resounding hit that read as quarter swinging one way and dime/penny the other. Having used the XLT for quite awhile I know this is probably not a coin, BUT you have to dig EVERYTHING (I only found the nickel after I had dug up a nail about five inches from it).
Well it was a round something or other that was at least 12 inches down. You would have thought I was burying somebody by the time I got done with my lesche tool. I have no idea what it is, but the three latch-like areas look familiar. Just haven’t placed it yet. If you guys have any ideas let me know. Top of a milk can, maybe?
I also found this blade?
Well, it was starting to get late (I hadn’t had lunch.. I had been out in the woods for about four hours), so I headed back to the truck. Still swinging. That’s when I hit my second coin, another V Nickel, 1890. Looked decent coming out of the ground (not so good now that I have cleaned it up.. really faded on me..
So I took all my stuff and headed for the truck. As I set my finds into the truck bed a neighbor stopped to talk. He’s stopped before. Younger guy very interested in md’ing. Gave me a lead on another possible site nearby. As he left, I checked my watch and the sky and saw I had another 15 minutes of good daylight so I went up the hill one more time. About 15 feet from the house site, I hit a strong signal near the base of a small tree. Sight finds from someone else. Just under the surface was the old pitchfork, with the saw blade laying underneath and the axe handle just off to the side. Someone prior to me had seen these things and laid them up next to the tree.
This place is very cool. As a history buff, I would’ve loved to have been able to see what it used to look like (Haven’t found any old pictures in my research).
Here is the rest of my stuff. If you can ID anything that isn’t marked, let me know.
I don’t see a whole lot worth keeping other than the farm tools and the button and the coins, although here are three of the more interesting items. What are they?
Sometimes this hobby is frustrating… sometimes it is rewarding.. but for me.. it always seems to be relaxing.
HOWEVER, the old post office/stage coach stop site I have been working my last three times out was starting to frustrate me. This place was operable from 1854-1901 (maybe longer but was NOT on the 1918 county atlas). It has given up a TON of relics (okay, tons of twisted metal, LOL) but no coins. After my last post, where someone suggested that since it was a log cabin I might not find coins, I began to reassess my site. Of the things I could make out I had found a stirrup, part of a horse harness, a partial lid to a kettle, wood splint for hewn logs, a belt buckle, a button, a thimble, half a letter opener, and two parts of a spoon. Seemed like the home site to me. BUT, it seemed scattered over an awfully big area. 20x35.
So I thought on it and decided to head up the hill a little more and see what else I could find. Put my XLT on relics and headed off. Now you have to understand where I am hunting. This is woods, thick with underbrush, even in the dead of winter. You can see maybe 20 feet in front of you, but after that.. well it all starts looking the same. A lot of downed trees and the ones that aren’t down are the low-sprawling kind with the big stickers on them so you need to keep your head on a swivel. Thorny rose bushes everywhere. Good Times, for sure!
I had walked a good thirty feet from the area in all but one direction, so off I started due east, but as I headed out I began to veer northeast due to underbrush. After about 35 feet I noticed a small clearing (10x12) just off to my right. About halfway to it, I started getting excited. This might be the home site with the lower area being a barn. Now my blood was pumping. When I got to the clearing you could see the indentations. It indeed had been a foundation, however, just to the southeast of the clearing was a small pile of dirt. The cabin/house had been dozed (not very well), and it had been some time ago. From the underbrush, I would guess it has been 20 years plus, and the landowner later told me he thought it was probably closer to 35-40, maybe more. Hmm feeling a little unsure as to what I would find, I plowed in anyway.
My first couple of hits made me think I was back down the hill again. Nail, nail, nail, metal banding, chunk of metal … Hmm, Okay. Then I hit a flat button (double gilt, 1790-1840). Better. About 15 minutes later and maybe three feet from the button came my first coin from the site. A 1903 V Nickel. Finally, I had broken through.
Then I hit the cleared pile of dirt. After digging some nails and small pieces of metal I got a resounding hit that read as quarter swinging one way and dime/penny the other. Having used the XLT for quite awhile I know this is probably not a coin, BUT you have to dig EVERYTHING (I only found the nickel after I had dug up a nail about five inches from it).
Well it was a round something or other that was at least 12 inches down. You would have thought I was burying somebody by the time I got done with my lesche tool. I have no idea what it is, but the three latch-like areas look familiar. Just haven’t placed it yet. If you guys have any ideas let me know. Top of a milk can, maybe?
I also found this blade?
Well, it was starting to get late (I hadn’t had lunch.. I had been out in the woods for about four hours), so I headed back to the truck. Still swinging. That’s when I hit my second coin, another V Nickel, 1890. Looked decent coming out of the ground (not so good now that I have cleaned it up.. really faded on me..
So I took all my stuff and headed for the truck. As I set my finds into the truck bed a neighbor stopped to talk. He’s stopped before. Younger guy very interested in md’ing. Gave me a lead on another possible site nearby. As he left, I checked my watch and the sky and saw I had another 15 minutes of good daylight so I went up the hill one more time. About 15 feet from the house site, I hit a strong signal near the base of a small tree. Sight finds from someone else. Just under the surface was the old pitchfork, with the saw blade laying underneath and the axe handle just off to the side. Someone prior to me had seen these things and laid them up next to the tree.
This place is very cool. As a history buff, I would’ve loved to have been able to see what it used to look like (Haven’t found any old pictures in my research).
Here is the rest of my stuff. If you can ID anything that isn’t marked, let me know.
I don’t see a whole lot worth keeping other than the farm tools and the button and the coins, although here are three of the more interesting items. What are they?
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