Upstate NY Info

[MightyMouse82]

Greetings,

My father and I own quite a bit of forested acreage outside of Marathon (north of Binghamton) we use primarily for hunting. I'm new to the hobby and am anxious to detect as there are what appear to be a few very old foundations on the land. Can anyone point me in the right direction in terms of where to get started on research of the property, settlement or native american presence, etc.? I'm from PA so I don't know much about the surrounding area.

Thanks,

Chris

[Silver Fox]

Greetings,

My father and I own quite a bit of forested acreage outside of Marathon (north of Binghamton) we use primarily for hunting. I'm new to the hobby and am anxious to detect as there are what appear to be a few very old foundations on the land. Can anyone point me in the right direction in terms of where to get started on research of the property, settlement or native american presence, etc.? I'm from PA so I don't know much about the surrounding area.

Thanks,

Chris

There are many sources you can research such as at the Hall of Public Records, what they call Platt maps, the public library for the area's history, neighbors particularly old people, historical organizations, even real estate businesses.

Silver Fox

[TreasurdiggrNY]

Chris,
Welcome to the forum. You can google the town names and get some quick history on the web. Some of the current town names may have been changed from what they were. Marathon N.Y. the town, is within the bounds of the Central NY Military Tract, 2 million acres set aside to compensate returning revolutionary war soldiers. Your town Marathon had it's first settlers in 1794. Some nice history there, good luck on the research and the finds!
Glenn

[MightyMouse82]

Thanks Glenn...I actually read quite a bit about the central ny military tract today I found on the net. I've gotten in touch with the local historical society as well so maybe they can provide some additional info.

[kieser sousa/rip]

Hi Chris,I'm about 50 miles north of Binghampton myself.Need any help diggin them treasures give me a shout ! If you can get a topo map of the property that will show you were things were like houses barns and road's.Also in the 1860's and 70's there were a number of atlas's done by county in NY.These will show you the same things as well as who owned the property and are pretty helpfull also.Allso if your anywere near the Susquehanna river that would be a good thing,this river was the scene of alot of history dating to pre Colombian times.

[007]

Actually this Guy is from your neck of the woods . I think you can learn allot from his website , pretty Dam good site , tons of usefull info " A+++ All the way" ,Fantastic finds , and great Metal detecting tips , Upstate NY/and other areas.
http://metaldetectingworld.com/detecting_in_usa.shtml

[MightyMouse82]

Thanks for the link 007...the site is excellent.

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Howdy do!

I live a short hop from Marathon (between Binghamton and Greene) and here is a site I have found handy for placing old structures.

http://docs.unh.edu/nhtopos/Greene.htm

http://docs.unh.edu/NY/hrfd03ne.jpg

These are maps from the 1904 and 1924 surveys.

I would say if you could get permission on the floodplain where they hold the Maple Festival you'd be in clad heaven. The railway depot is still sitting there just over the Tioughnioga bridge in town (rt 221?). I'd ask around there for permission.

[MightyMouse82]

Just an update...headed up to the property for the weekend and spent the better part of sunday out detecting around the old foundation. Found my very first pre-1900 coin, an 1882 indian head! Also found a horseshoe, several hand tools, and a ton of whats-its. No other coins though.

Chris

[kieser sousa/rip]

Congrats on the indian Chris.