Went prospecting for gold, ended up eyeballing some silver!

[The Aluminum Monster]

Hi all.

Woke up at dawn to make a 2.5 hour drive to western Massachusetts to do some prospecting on the Westfield River. Unfortunately, that's about how far in any direction I have to drive if I want to find any gold since my area is not a gold producing spot. I had classified material into a 5 gallon bucket and brought it to the water to pan. A few shovels in and I noticed this silver spoon, not two inches from where I set the bucket.

Oddly enough, I usually bring a metal detector with me on trips like this, but I left them at home today. From what I can tell, even though I can't find a match online for the spoon, it is a souvenir from the Bethesda Pavilion in Waukesha, Wisconsin. How it ended up on a river bank in western Massachusetts, I will never know.

Thanks for looking and I hope you got a chance to go out and enjoy the day!









-Jay

 

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[fistfulladirt]

Nice chunk of Sterling!

 

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[The Aluminum Monster]

Nice chunk of Sterling!

Thank you, fist!

I emailed the Waukesha historical society in regards to the spoon and this was the response I got back. CONSIDERABLY older than I thought!:

Jay,

Thanks for the email and great story!

I shared your email and photos with the leading Springs Era historian/collector. While he did recognize the spoon, it's only the second example he's ever seen - the other one only a recent addition to his collection.

The spoon dates between 1882-1892, as that was when the spring was tented as shown. A more permanent wood pavilion structure replaced it.

"The Great Waukesha Springs Era" by John Schoenknecht is the most comprehensive book on the many springs of Waukesha, including Bethesda.

Bethesda was founded in 1868 by Col. Richard Dunbar and as you found, marked the beginning of Waukesha's reputation as a city of springs. Larger businesses - like Bethesda - built up parks and pavilions for tourists coming to drink their waters, along with large hotels and health resorts. Many of the parks in the city today are former spring parks. I attached here a brief article from our quarterly publication, Landmark that gives a nice overview of the many springs established.

Will likely share it on our social media this week. If ever you look to donate the spoon to an historic society or public collection, our collections committee would be glad to chat with you further.

Thanks again for sharing and happy hunting!

Best,

Bonnie Byrd

Executive Director
Waukesha County Historical Society & Museum

That's pretty exciting for a dumb luck find!

 

[xr7ator]

Excellent! Thanks for sharing.

 

[The Aluminum Monster]

Excellent! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you! I have better luck eyeball finding things than using my detectors!

 

[Joe-Dirt]

Nice job sir!!!!!!!

 

[The Aluminum Monster]

Nice job sir!!!!!!!

Thank you! It made the tolls on 90 worth it!