Dogtown anyone? get ready

Should be fun.

Google maps link that shows Dogtown Commons near the arrow:

http://www.google.com/maps?q=Cherry+St,+Gloucester,+MA+01930&ie=UTF8&z=14&ll=42.630801,-70.668011&spn=0.02286,0.074158&om=1

Then if you compare that with this 1888(?) map

http://www.people.hbs.edu/rswartz/GFX/METAL/Gloucester-Dogtown-closeup.jpg

you'll see two roads to nowhere heading NE from that spot. I wonder if those are related to Dogtown. [Looks like it after finding the following.]

Some directions, etc. for Dogtown from a mountain bike site:

http://www.ragemtb.com/maps/dogtown/

More Dogtown info:

http://www.capeannweb.com/babsonboulders.htm

Note this map as well:

http://www.thedacrons.com/eric/dogtown/images/dogtown_map.jpg

_Rich_
 

I live in the town next to dogtown and hike there often. From what I have heard it's been pretty searched out. The guy I bought my detector from used to detect there in the 70's but stopped going cause it was so picked over. Great spot to explore though.
 

No place is hunted out. There is however a lot of junk in there from years of dumping and partying. Good luck. cladius.
 

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/gdc/scd0001/2002/20020820002be/20020820002be.pdf
I don't know if this link will work, but it's to the library of congress. A few months ago I stumbled across excerpts of a book online that was published in 1896. It was called "In the heart of Cape Ann" or the "story of dogtown". I found out that all of the other published material on dogtown was based on this book. It is very interesting and gives a detailed profile of all of the former residents along with a couple of hand drawn maps that can be easily compared to present day ones. For present day maps you can go into any bookstore on main st. in Gloucester and pick one up for $5.00. If the link dosn't work you can go to the Library of Congress website and search the online catalog under basic search and then type in the title "In the Heart of Cape Ann" the author is Charles E. Mann. It is totally free and you can print the whole thing out. Hope to see some of you guys out there.
 

A large group hunt up there could be nice. Keep us informed of any potential dates.

In the mean time try this map out...
 

Attachments

  • Old Map Gloucester.jpg
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capt. sparrow said:
In the heart of Cape Ann
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting that. I'm enjoying reading it and forwarded it to a colleague who lives near there (and whose family goes back generations there) and he was very happy to see it.

(Later addition): I've cleaned up the PDF to remove the black borders for printing. If anyone wants a copy, let me know.

_Rich_
 

I'm glad the information was useful. I try and get up there anytime I can, but like claudius said there is lots of junk from years of partying and dumping, so I have not found anything of value yet. It dosn't help that I'm just starting out and the only detector I could afford was a whites prizm which isn't the greatest, but being a begginer i figure it's a good one for me. If anyone has any tips on hunting a place like dogtown that would be great. All of the cellar holes on the side of the road are ringed with divets from past MDing. I usually try and cover around the hloe and inside it, but I have gotten nothing, also all along the road I get hits every 10 ft. but is always scrap pieces of metal. If anyone has any suggestions please share.
 

(I don't understand why people won't simply push dirt back in a hole.)

Without having been there and being somewhat of a beginner myself, here's some things that come to mind....

* Either pick a small area and clear it out (dig everything!) which might uncover something good currently masked or distorted by iron or other trash;
* Go where others haven't been much, whether it be away from hard-hit locations--even if they're likely to have had less goodies to start with--or in hard-to-reach spots close to popular places; or
* From studying maps and perhaps that book, maybe you can estimate where shortcuts might have been, either between houses or from other locations into Dogtown or particular Dogtown houses. Everyone wouldn't have always been on the road, particularly if there were cleared fields for agriculture.

_Rich_ (found my first Mercury dime this morning)
 

capt.sparrow like blakx said get off the main paths and away from the old foundations. look for wells. Just a note there is a very heavy infestation of ticks in that area so protect yourself with a good repellant with a high concentration of deet in it. Have fun. Cladius.
 

Thanks for the tip. In all the times I have explored up there I haven't seen any wells, but then again I was never looking for them. I'll be up there again this week so I'll be on the lookout. I was there today and again came up empty handed, but on the way home I stopped at a spot I've been meaning to check out. In Manchester, Ma. before route 128 was built in the 60's, school st. was connected differently. If you go to google earth and type in "old school st. manchester, ma." you'll see how it was reconfigured. The old part is now a trail that connects with the old essex rd. which was also a road that connected manchester with essex. I'ts all trails now. Within 15 minutes I had found 2 bullet shells and some sort of tag meant for a necklace all at about 4-5" down. Since these had been primary roads for a couple hundred years I'm sure there is a fair share of trash and keepers. Just by luck the 3 hits I had ended being keepers. Just thought I'd share if anyone was going to be in the area. I'm thinking it might be promising.
 

http://www.thedacrons.com/eric/dogtown/story_dogtown_gloucester.html
Here's another link. I don't think it's been posted yet, has some more history. What I find interesting, and I might be wrong is the discrepancies in some of the numbering of the cellar holes. Apparently there is legend that gold is buried up there. I for one don't believe that since I have found nothing in my research but speculation. The book "in the heart of cape ann" makes reference only once to Black Neil living in Molly Jacobs basement, convinced there was money buried perhaps by Capt. Kidd (I still can't get over the amount of locations that Kidd supposedly hid his treasure, it seems like any time treasure is believed to be buried it's always his doing). The other person believed to have money in there basement was Issac Dade. Within this link it marks his cellar hole as #18. In comparing the old map and a new one, I think that they are mismarked. The book by Charles Mann describes the condition of most of the cellar holes, and under the Issac Dade one he describes it of being filled with dead horses and boulders. The one marked 18 is close to the road and contains no boulders. The one at 20 is filled with boulders and corresponds in location with the old map. I think #18 is Dorcus Foster especially how it is positioned on the bend of the road and to the 2 holes across the street. # 20 is a little harder to find because of the overgrowth over the numbered rock, but right before you come to dogtown square it's on the left, set back and surrounded by evergreens just like it's marked on the old map under Issac Dade. Sorry if I'm rambling, just thought I'd share my hunch.
Sparrow
 

Hey Mike, Myself and about 30 hunters hit it about 10 years ago as a club hunt and only found about 5-10 kinda modern coins( Mercs wheats and stuff).
 

Yeah i haven't even had time to consider going there, after I posted this thread I ended up digging up a site from behind my house in Tewksbury. I've been pulling up old bottles and antique irons and printing plates, the site won't stop producing finds, I would still like to check out Dogtown just for curiosity purposes, if I ever finish up over here.
 

I live 200 yrds from dogtown it has been hit hard and is loaded with lead shot and trash no good finds have been found there in years.
 

thats great to see there is still life in our state lots to be found so little time welcome to the site sandy shoes and sandmaniac didnt know i had a neighbor that close mayb ill c u out and about sometime happy hunting everyone
 

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DOGTOWN, Ghost town with a History

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