Hello everyone, I'm a long time lurker that just now created an account. I guess you could say I'm a collector of all things. I have been collecting coins for years, arrow heads and indian artifacts, and rocks and minerals. Well, I've always wanted a metal detector so hopefully in the next month or two I'll be purchasing one.
As for my questions. My father in law has about 25 acres of land north of Winston-Salem, NC, at the foot of the Blue Ridge mountains. He purchased it a few years ago and I have been rockhounding the site for a year or so, also looking for arrow heads, with no luck. Anyway, when he bought the land and house, the surrounding woods were very overgrown. The house is approximately 40 or so years old. In the woods surrounding the house, there are 2 distinct overgrown roads. We guess they were either for logging or tobacco farming. You can still see the ruts from the road, but it has not been used in a long time. We had someone from the forrestry service come and date the trees. The trees currently growing in the middle of the road are at least 50-60 years old. So yeah, the road hasn't been used in a while.
For the sake of simplicity, I'll divide the land up. The house is right in the middle, so there is an East side and a West side of the propery, each being about 11 acres. On the west side of the property, along one of the old roads, there are 3 stone foundations. Each one is about 15 feet X 15 feet. We are assuming they were tobacco barns, but don't know. Also, there is no cleared field nearby. The closest field is about a mile away, so I'm not sure why the barns would be there. Any ideas?
Next, on the east side of the land is where the other road goes. There is nothing to be found directly off the road. But about 200 yards off the road, way in the middle of no where, is a cabin. My father in law calls it the slave cabin, not sure why but it stuck. There are no roads or noticeable paths leading to it, other than some deer trails. About 20 yards away from the cabin is an old cellar hole dug into a small hill. The hole has rocks stacked up lining the sides and is presently about 4 feet deep. There is also a nice little spring fed stream nearby. The cabin itself is 2 rooms, seperated by a stone fireplace and a wall. There is no electricity or signs of it, so it is somewhat old. I've included a couple of pictures, look how the house is sitting rocks on the right hand side of the pic. There is also a ladder that leads to a loft. We have been browsing the house, no detectors yet, and found some old tins and cork top bottles so far, as well as 2 old pairs of shoes. In the area in front of the house, you can tell that it was somewhat cleared, maybe a yard or something, and there are obvious mounds, either dirt or rock, but very overgrown. On the rest of the east side, scattered throughout the woods, are rock mounds, the same stuff the barn foundations were made from, but they aren't laid out like a foundation, just piled up. There are about 4 mounds that I know of. These, to me, don't seem like natural occurances. They look like someone piled them up for later use, or they completely demolished some old barns.
As soon as I get a detector I'm going to check the area completely. But my questions are. Can anyone date this cabin by looking at these pics? It looks as though some kids found it in the past, a little graphiti. Also, anyone have an idea of why someone lived here and had the barns or foundations? Like I said, no tobacco fields nearby, and at least on our land, there was no heaving logging, other that the trees on the old road, the rest are 100+ years old. Given the scenerio, where would be the first place you check? I'm thinking the cellar and around the house, but the barns have my curiosity. Other than tobacco and logging, the only other thing I can think of is moonshine, which is still being made in that area.
Anyway, I appreciate any suggestions and advice. Thanks,
Bob
Pics, clickable. sorry about the size.
As for my questions. My father in law has about 25 acres of land north of Winston-Salem, NC, at the foot of the Blue Ridge mountains. He purchased it a few years ago and I have been rockhounding the site for a year or so, also looking for arrow heads, with no luck. Anyway, when he bought the land and house, the surrounding woods were very overgrown. The house is approximately 40 or so years old. In the woods surrounding the house, there are 2 distinct overgrown roads. We guess they were either for logging or tobacco farming. You can still see the ruts from the road, but it has not been used in a long time. We had someone from the forrestry service come and date the trees. The trees currently growing in the middle of the road are at least 50-60 years old. So yeah, the road hasn't been used in a while.
For the sake of simplicity, I'll divide the land up. The house is right in the middle, so there is an East side and a West side of the propery, each being about 11 acres. On the west side of the property, along one of the old roads, there are 3 stone foundations. Each one is about 15 feet X 15 feet. We are assuming they were tobacco barns, but don't know. Also, there is no cleared field nearby. The closest field is about a mile away, so I'm not sure why the barns would be there. Any ideas?
Next, on the east side of the land is where the other road goes. There is nothing to be found directly off the road. But about 200 yards off the road, way in the middle of no where, is a cabin. My father in law calls it the slave cabin, not sure why but it stuck. There are no roads or noticeable paths leading to it, other than some deer trails. About 20 yards away from the cabin is an old cellar hole dug into a small hill. The hole has rocks stacked up lining the sides and is presently about 4 feet deep. There is also a nice little spring fed stream nearby. The cabin itself is 2 rooms, seperated by a stone fireplace and a wall. There is no electricity or signs of it, so it is somewhat old. I've included a couple of pictures, look how the house is sitting rocks on the right hand side of the pic. There is also a ladder that leads to a loft. We have been browsing the house, no detectors yet, and found some old tins and cork top bottles so far, as well as 2 old pairs of shoes. In the area in front of the house, you can tell that it was somewhat cleared, maybe a yard or something, and there are obvious mounds, either dirt or rock, but very overgrown. On the rest of the east side, scattered throughout the woods, are rock mounds, the same stuff the barn foundations were made from, but they aren't laid out like a foundation, just piled up. There are about 4 mounds that I know of. These, to me, don't seem like natural occurances. They look like someone piled them up for later use, or they completely demolished some old barns.
As soon as I get a detector I'm going to check the area completely. But my questions are. Can anyone date this cabin by looking at these pics? It looks as though some kids found it in the past, a little graphiti. Also, anyone have an idea of why someone lived here and had the barns or foundations? Like I said, no tobacco fields nearby, and at least on our land, there was no heaving logging, other that the trees on the old road, the rest are 100+ years old. Given the scenerio, where would be the first place you check? I'm thinking the cellar and around the house, but the barns have my curiosity. Other than tobacco and logging, the only other thing I can think of is moonshine, which is still being made in that area.
Anyway, I appreciate any suggestions and advice. Thanks,
Bob
Pics, clickable. sorry about the size.
It's mine,I'll pick it up this week end. Though I had it hid pettry good. 
