How do you hunt an old homesite?

[N2CU]

I located an old homesite from a 1903 map and took a ride there today. In less than a minute I found the foundation and could just picture all the great finds coming my way. The place was littered with junk; pieces of iron, jar lids, car parts, twisted metal thingys, broken glass, old plumbing, junk, junk, junk. The homestead is kind of hidden and was last in use before 1929.

How do you begin searching a site like this? If I were to dig every signal I'd be there for years.

 

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[Frankn]

You actually went there without your detector
OK, here's how you work it. Stuff from 1903 will be down about 13" and stuff from 1929 will be down over 4" so just don't dig anything that is less than 4" and you will avoid most of the junk. Of course some of the junk will mask some good stuff so after you cherry pick it, if you are a gluten for punishment, dig everything.
Frank

 

[N2CU]

I took my detector and could hardly find a spot free of metal for ground balancing. Dug some good sounding signals only to uncover junk metal. I looked for the usual spots (privy, bottle dump) but nothing was obvious since there was surface junk all around. I've never really tried relic hunting before so I was just overwhelmed by all the signals. I'm not giving up on the site yet; maybe just start far away from the foundation and work my way in.

 

[mrwilburino]

Do you have the 5" coil for your f70? That will get you past some of the junk.

 

[deepskyal]

Love old homesites.

First, do a visual survey of the area. Look for big old trees. If there are any, the possibility that picnics, kids, whatever hung out there. Good place to hang out in shade or play. Big old stumps might all be thats remaining.

Try to imagine where the front porch might have been. Again, the main entry, sitting on a cool day, etc.

Laundry lines. Pants with pockets hung out to dry. You know what shows up in your washer and drier. They're usually located pretty close to the house. Could have been tree to tree or maybe even post to post.

Old homesteds lots of times had vegetable gardens. See if you spot an area where the growth seems different. A discerning eye will spot it. Probably a slight depression in the area compared to everywhere else.

If it hasn't been used for years you just have to visualize what might have been where. What would have been the best view from the front of the house would help determine where the porches were....gardens would have been in a sunny area. Just because there are trees there now doesn't mean they were there then. Try to take into account any erosion, years of leaves falling, age of trees, etc. Put it into perspective.

If you're finding lots of trash like plumbing and house parts, the place might have been bulldozed at one time and just scattered the trash, the place just collapsed and has since been relegated to mother earth, or you found the dump site..

Old homesites are relic hunters dreams, not necessarily for coin hunters.

If your fairly new with your detector, take the time to dig those signals and see what it's telling you. Some old stuff is pretty interesting. Differentiate copper from iron...you'll catch on and get better. And don't forget, trash frequently hides coins...ask anyone that does urban parks.

If it seems too much trash for you...just move on to something more to your liking.
Detecting can sometimes be a hobby for the patient. That one old, valuable coin could be hidden right under your foot.

Al

 

[N2CU]

Al,
Thanks for the tips. I plan on giving it another try soon and will post any good finds. Yes, the F70 is new for me and I haven't detected in over 25 years! So I do need time to learn what it's telling me.

 

[m bryan]

Great post deepskyal.......also try to determine where they parked their cars.....could be some coins where they got in and out of their cars....N2CU, it may be too trashy to hunt. I ran across one recently that I just gave up on. Try to locate the trash dump. Usually in back of the house. There will most likely be some goodies there......

 

[Lowbatts]

DeepSkyAl is right on.

I find the drive. Have to visualize the sunny side of the house in the morning and in the afternoon.

Was there a small vegetable or herb garden? Most likely and near the sunset side of the house so it could be worked early on in the day. A summer kitchen? Is the well head still visible? Capped or removed?

The line of trees on the west side of the house around here denotes the windbreak, usually conifers. Sometimes the last of the cedars in this area or white pines, junipers or such. Catalpas usually line the drives and were a great resource for kids both when they bloom and when they sprout. Work under every large old tree and large old fallen tree at the base.

Clothelines are most often in the afternoon sun but not necessarily on the windward side. Depending on how the house was leveled orremoved at least one side will be just full of trash, save it for the slow days. Work the cleanest parts of the discernable yard first. Once you find old tootsie toys, cap guns or any items you can identify as something personal and most likely not lost in the demolition better slow down and work real slow.

A few weeks back at such a site I was working the drive opposite the house next to an area where we had found some eating utensils, pie tins and the like. I got a 1923 Peace Dollar looking real good from there just 4" deep. Last year in that family area I found a 44 Walker under the base of a fallen tree. The tree had a bailing wire clamp grown into it about 5 feet up from the ground and I tried to reconstruct where it would have stood over when the tree was standing. The Walker was directly under it about 6" down at the base of the tree.

Yesterday I pulled 13 wheaties from the front yard of another old long-demolished homesite, all about 5-7" deep and dated 1910 through 1945 and all in an area about 5' square. Maybe a swing was there because 15 feet SW of that spot a huge old oak lay fallen and seriously rotted.

So picture the site as it was. Hit the cleanest parts of the yard first and pay close attention to the trees, espcially those that were very large and have little remaining of them. Hit the sides of the drive near the house also.

Then go looking for old fruit trees, the remains of flowering bushes, garden stones arranged in circles or other shapes and hit them!

Good luck!

 

[CENLAcoin]

This is a great topic.

I would add to this to go to the library as well...In my area google doesn't have very many historical aerials, but through library research you'll typically find "local only" history books with tons of pictures of the community...you might be able to find a picture of the home or the neighborhood, to give you a clue how it was situated on the property.

GL and HH,
WIll

 

[birdman]

Old close lines ,that is where you find the loot.

 

[Swartzie]

A place like that will take months to hunt. Just be patient and persistent. In a real trashy area, I use very short swings of the coil. Just a few inches. Try to hunt the areas that are not so trashy at first. Take it slow. You can't hunt like you would a park. You may find some awesome stuff or you may just find a button or two. But, if you keep working it you'll find something. My oldest coin (1700's) was on a site that I had already worked for about 6 months. It was found more than a hundred feet from the cellar hole. And it was less than 2 inches deep!! So don't think old=deep. If I get frustrated working a site, I'll do another site for awhile then go back.

-Swartzie

 

[Dirty Money]

This has to be one of the best threads, ever. The only thing I could add based on my experience is to put "many" in front of Swartzie's "months." I have several 1870 - 1930 sites that are heavily trashed. When it gets to be too much, take some time away from it, so when you go back, you go back fresh.

HH

 

[Lowbatts]

This has to be one of the best threads, ever. The only thing I could add based on my experience is to put "many" in front of Swartzie's "months." I have several 1870 - 1930 sites that are heavily trashed. When it gets to be too much, take some time away from it, so when you go back, you go back fresh.

HH

Ditto! The trashy side of the yard(s) can keep the diligent there FOREVER, but that is sometimes rewarded very well!

I have a LOT of these old farmsites nearby, dating from the 1850's to the 1960's or '70's and they can be killers also so caution is advised as well.

 

[deepskyal]

One more word of advice.

I see you're in NY so you don't have much greenery right now. This is the time I like to get out too, just for that reason. BUT....wear gloves!

One thing you won't see until too late is poison ivy. I make the same mistake every year. I just hate wearin gloves...but I pay for it a couple days later with my fingers and hands full of itchy, watery blisters. You'll get poison ivy cutting through those roots that you won't even be thinking about since you don't see the plants yet.

Last year I finally found a product called "Technu". You wash your hands and any other exposed parts as soon as you can and it removes the ivy oils from from skin if you use it within 4 hours after contact. Carry it with you and some water. That's my plan. It does work. Used it last year and for the first time was PI free.

Al

 

[m bryan]

One more word of advice.

I see you're in NY so you don't have much greenery right now. This is the time I like to get out too, just for that reason. BUT....wear gloves!

One thing you won't see until too late is poison ivy. I make the same mistake every year. I just hate wearin gloves...but I pay for it a couple days later with my fingers and hands full of itchy, watery blisters. You'll get poison ivy cutting through those roots that you won't even be thinking about since you don't see the plants yet.

Last year I finally found a product called "Technu". You wash your hands and any other exposed parts as soon as you can and it removes the ivy oils from from skin if you use it within 4 hours after contact. Carry it with you and some water. That's my plan. It does work. Used it last year and for the first time was PI free.

Al

I got into some poison ivy about a month ago.....not knowing how since I didn't see it. Must have gotten it from the roots. Thanks for the advice.

 

[goldseeker4000]

People years ago 30's 20's 1900's etc. did not trust banks. and often they would bury their money some where within sight of the kitchen window. Look for clues and hunches, go search these sights. Also Sears made a tipe of pipe bank that was put down in a fence post hole with post over it. chicken coups were used very often because if anyone or anything got in there, the chickens would make a big comotion and alert the home owner. Also there was an old habit of burring a penny a few feet out from each corner of the house for good luck. families and friends would always use the back door to go in and out of and you will find most coins around this entry as apose to the front.