19th century Grist Mill?

[PKennett]

I met an old man today while out searching an abandoned home. He was the neighbor, and told me that not far from the edge of his property, out along a small river here in NW Ohio, there are the remains of an old grist mill from the mid 1800's. I'll go out this week and see what's there, but if anyone has ever searched them and has any suggestions for where to look with the metal detector please post your hints!

 

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[Swartzie]

Anyplace near the foundations, but away from the iron patches should be good. Actually, there is probably some cool iron stuff out there. But, I'd start with the non-ferrous stuff. If it were me I'd dig every signal above iron. If you haven't worked around iron infested sites before then my best advice is to be very patient and persistent. Keep going back if you can. It will probably take a few return visits to find the "good" spots.

-Swartzie

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Don't forget, where there was a Mill, there was most likely intentional flooding. '

I don't recommend hunting old mills.

 

[Bum Luck]

You'll likely find whiskey bottles.

 

[dogpound]

normally if there was a mill there was also a house near by, i'd hunt around the house or any path between the house and mill

 

[extractor]

Don't forget, where there was a Mill, there was most likely intentional flooding. '

I don't recommend hunting old mills.

Why Not ??

 

[PKennett]

Yeh, that answer confused me too.

Peter

 

[dogpound]

i have found a few old silvers around old mills or the mill house, the only problem i have found was there always seemed to be alot of ore and other hot rocks to set off the detector.

 

[kc7rad]

i have found a few old silvers around old mills or the mill house, the only problem i have found was there always seemed to be alot of ore and other hot rocks to set off the detector.

Just wondering out loud, why would grist mills have a lot of ore and hot rocks? I can see there being more iron.

I am curious, as there are a few virgin 19th century grist mills I am interested in checking out.

-Ken

 

[dogpound]

this isn't every mill but the couple i have hunted were pretty close to a set of train tracks and the river which i would guess explain the ore and mineralization

 

[deepskyal]

I'd give it a go but keep in mind...The river givith and the river taketh away.
I've detected places near rivers and streams and found little. Flooding takes away markers and deposits silt and sometimes, over the years, that silt can build up pretty deep.

I personallly would hope to find iron. Make that your starting point and spiral out from there. You never know what kind of old iron tools may be burried under the river mud or maybe something happened to the owner and there's a cache still waiting to be found.
And as mentioned, there may have been an adjoining house or outbuilding for storage. Check who the owner was and maybe there will be some history of how busy the place was or maybe some old photos of it.

Nothing ventured, nothing lost. Give it a go.

Al

 

[Justice70]

I'll hunt most anywhere. Give it a go.

 

[LM]

Tagging this thread.
I actually own a couple creekside acres in a Southern State (now pretty much unbuildable due to various construction projects over the years that have taken away the useful sections) with an old 19th C mill foundation on it and a 19th C house foundation on it too.

It definitely *has* flooded there, though.

 

[mud dog (aka) Salty Dog]

I would hunt the mill for sure,most would have had a rode that circled in front of the mill so they could swing a team of horses with out trying to back up,so anywhere between the road and the mill would be a prime spot to lose money...bear in mind back in the day people carried change purses,so the odds of finding one loaded might just be better around them on the way to their outhouse,most of them would have one south of the mill close by,just a thought...

 

[Bum Luck]

i have found a few old silvers around old mills or the mill house, the only problem i have found was there always seemed to be alot of ore and other hot rocks to set off the detector.

A creek or river is the result of years of erosion, so many, many feet of soil have washed away and concentrated the rocks, the hot ones just being a proportion of all of them.