Well Sir: I never have hunted any outhouses,Used a few in my time Ha Ha I was in new mexico years ago talking to a gent who had hunted outhouses and he had quite a few relics mostly old hand guns that is about all that I can remember Buck
Anxiety in the heart of man causes deppression.But a good word makes it glad. IN GOD WE TRUST.......
The location of and old out house is fairly easy to find.
Look for a depression in the ground, that has a lot of nice vegetation growing up and around it.
Usually off to the side or the rear of the foundation of the main house. Look for what might have been a path leading away from the main house that leads towards or to a depression as mentioned above.
The tools I use are a shovel, a small gardening trowel/spade, a gardening claw and some kind of classify device/screen. And gloves of course.
Just be careful when you dig, dig slow and easy most of the stuff you will find is fragile (bottles etc)
Dangers? A cut finger from broken glass if your not wearing gloves. And an occasional biting and or stinging insect that like's the rich soil.
Finds? Coins, bottles, knives, bottle openers, keys. Expect to find anything that one might expect someone to carry in their pockets or on thier belt (with the exception of the quart whiskey bottles of course).
But mainly bottles. I assume from the large number I have found over the years that the out house was the place to hide ones drinking habits from the lady of the house or just to keep you warm on a cold night.
outhouses were used to throw trash down alot, when they got pretty full they would either cover up the hole and make a new one or they would burn the trash. Sometimes they even dug it out
My friend's In-Laws are avid out house diggers. They have come up with some very interesting finds. Some of the items that they showed to me were: Bottles, coins, ceramic/porcelain doll heads, beer tankards with the Anheiser Bush logo on one side and a picture of the Mormon temple on the other (another one had the AB logo on one side and a picture of Brigham Young on the other. Brigham Young was the president of the Mormon church way back when) and the most interesting find was a human skull. They took the skull to an anthropologist at the University of Utah and were told that it had belonged to an Indian. Apparently one that someone didn't like very much since the rest of the poor mans body was not with the head!
When they dig outhouses or trash pits they always use a probe to determine where the hole was located. When they showed me how to do it I would push the probe into the dirt. The probe is nothing more than a piece of 1/4" round rod about 4 feet in lenght with a "T" handle welded to the end. What you are looking for is a spot of dirt that has a "crust". In other words, when you push the probe into the dirt there is normal resistance for about 4-8 inches then it breaks through to looser soil that hasn't compacted like the surface has. It's the poor man's GPR (ground penetrating radar) since they are both esentially measuring soil density.
We filled in our last outhouse in the early 70's. ?Basically, you'll find alot of glass items, old timers feared infection more than anything in those days and with good reason. ?If they had a trash pile of broken glass and a house full of barefoot children running about, it would have been a nightmare waiting to happen. So they'd throw disgarded glass down the hole. ?I'd assume you'll also find anything that could fall out of someone pockets. ?My biggest fear as a kid using the outhouse was the dreaded BLACK WIDOW .. still gives me chills, lol. ?
When you feel down because you didn’t
get what you want, just sit tight and
be happy, because God is thinking of
something better to give you.
What else is buried... just waiting to be uncovered?
Feb 2006
Hobbs NM.
10
Been in the hole for 2 weeks now
Just found one, ( my first ) about 2 weeks ago and it has been a blast!! I think when the homesteaders left they threw as much as they could down that ole hole. I've found buckles, bottles, horse bits, toys, tools, household decorations, tons of bones and all kinds of other neat items. The items seem to date around the 1920's. It has been a true "glory hole".
Have fun
Thanks for the replys. since i've been gone for awhile. I thought i might bring this post back to life i liked where we were going with this so if you have any tid bits of info about out houses that you would like to add please do.
A friend and I explored a property where the only remains where a depression layered with old large bricks and
cement, we spent a whole afternoon digging. Found nothing, as usual.
To protect our hobby, always fill the holes you dig.
Old outhouses from abandoned farms and old saw mill sites are great hunting areas. Old bottles and other trash items are found in these sites. It reduced the number of trips to the local dump which is another great dig site from the middle of the twentieth century and earlier.
Old medicine bottles bring pretty good bucks. Know one guy that found a mason jar on a little lip under the poop chute that had a fair amount of coins. Guess Pa hid his money where nobody in those days would stick their hands
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
Just found one, ( my first ) about 2 weeks ago and it has been a blast!! I think when the homesteaders left they threw as much as they could down that ole hole. I've found buckles, bottles, horse bits, toys, tools, household decorations, tons of bones and all kinds of other neat items. The items seem to date around the 1920's. It has been a true "glory hole".
Originally Posted by Diamond Spike
bottles bring pretty good bucks. Know one guy that found a mason jar on a little lip under the poop chute that had a fair amount of coins. Guess Pa hid his money where nobody in those days would stick their hands 
