Weird Concrete Foundation/Cellar Hole

coinman123

Silver Member
Feb 21, 2013
4,659
5,768
New England, Somewhere Metal Detecting in the Wood
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2
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1
Detector(s) used
Teknetics T2 SE (DST)
Spare Teknetics T2 SE (backup)
15" T2 coil
Pro-Pointer
Bounty Hunter Pioneer 202
Fisher F2
Fisher F-Point
Primary Interest:
Other
Before it got dark today I decided to go out in search of a cellar hole that I had found last night while doing so research. I found the cellar hole along a trail, which was once an old stone wall lined road. The weird thing about the place is a small concrete foundation/cellar hole, that is less than ten feet away from the actual cellar hole. The main cellar hole looks to have been abandoned for a very long time, is partially collapsed, and uses no concrete anywhere. The concrete foundation is rather small, no more than 10 feet long on either side. The above ground part of the foundation shows exposed field stones, and two ground level openings (for doors most likely). The underground part doesn't show any evidence of field stones being used, just concrete. At first I thought it was part of the cellar hole, but then I remembered that the house where the cellar hole is doesn't show up on a single map, going as far back as the 1850's (and not on any later than that either), making me fairly certain that it was either abandoned in the 1700's or first half of the 1800's. The concrete foundation doesn't look like it would have been from a house, it is much too small, and most houses don't have a combined cellar hole and foundation (though they can overlap in places). If it was a house, it would also have two doors for just one small room, plus a trapdoor in the floor to access the cellar, which seems a little excessive for a house of less than 100 square feet. While many cabins can be around this size, I have heard of one like this. I thought it could have been an addition onto the original house with the stone cellar hole, but it clearly doesn't seem to be from before the 1850's. I hope that this place wasn't already hunted out, some very old, nearly completely faded spray paint graffiti in the concrete structure, and some fresh footprints in the snow down the trail next to it aren't promising for nobody ever having metal detecting there. I also hope that the place isn't full of trash from the later structure.

I hope to metal detect it on Sunday, so I will let you know then if it turns out to be any good.

Here are some poor quality photos I took of the place.
20181127_160020.jpg 20181127_160044.jpg 20181127_155948.jpg 20181127_160002.jpg
 

Oct 5, 2014
31,886
35,424
Massachusetts
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Garrett: AT Pro, AT Gold & Infinium; Minelab: Explorer SE, II; Simplex; Tesoro: Tejon & Outlaw; White's: V3i
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Relic Hunting
Good Luck on the hunting adventure! :occasion14:
 

bologna321

Bronze Member
Aug 26, 2017
1,154
2,818
SW MO
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Garrett AT PRO, Garrett Ultra GTA 500, Equinox 600
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Looks promising. Sometimes in my area what I've seen is after the old house is not inhabitable they will maintain a small shed or barn to keep the farm going while living somewhere else. Maybe an outbuilding that was redone after the main house fell in?
 

Rookster

Gold Member
Nov 24, 2013
29,382
111,597
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Hope your work finding it pays off.
 

A2coins

Gold Member
Dec 20, 2015
33,807
42,606
Ann Arbor
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Equinox 800
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Rip that place apart looks like a great spot
 

RTR

Gold Member
Nov 21, 2017
8,180
32,469
Smith Mt. Lake Va.
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Teknetics Liberator
Falcon MD-20
***********
Blue Bowl
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Whatever is there those Teknetics Will find it .Good luck :)
 

JccEldreth

Sr. Member
Feb 8, 2017
411
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Virginia
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I am thinking that might be a spring house or cold storage building for the main house.
 

SusanMN

Silver Member
Jun 1, 2007
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Minnesota
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Smokehouse maybe.
 

OP
OP
coinman123

coinman123

Silver Member
Feb 21, 2013
4,659
5,768
New England, Somewhere Metal Detecting in the Wood
🥇 Banner finds
2
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Teknetics T2 SE (DST)
Spare Teknetics T2 SE (backup)
15" T2 coil
Pro-Pointer
Bounty Hunter Pioneer 202
Fisher F2
Fisher F-Point
Primary Interest:
Other
Went today for an hour, was going to go on Sunday so my father would be able to go, but he ended up being free today.

I couldn't believe it when I found this buckle, less than two inches down. Three buttons, the largest one in the center, and the two to the right of it, were my finds. The other two buttons and the cufflinks were my dads. Nothing seems to be later than around 1800. I guess that supports that the concrete thing was probably built after the house was gone.

DSC_0050.JPG DSC_0079.JPG

I hope to go to a another site I found tommarow.
 

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