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A little different, but interesting and I found it today

pganjon said:
More than likely, it is a cistern used to water the orchard. Paul
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Hey Paul.... I am naïve on cistern's. Meaning... can you explain simply how they work. I haven't a real clue only ideas. So if this is a cistern is it a block / brick structure with just a opening at the top and then earth moved in around it? And then a one time road leading back brought water in and filled it? And then the water was pumped out (somehow)? Is the cement poured on top of mound to stop rain from washing the earth away? Was this cistern maybe put up high so the orchard trees were gravity fed water controlled by valves? Hell I don't know.... but I want to know what it is and furthermore what's maybe inside.

menotomymaps ... You better be probing or doing something!!!!!! Best of luck and stay warm and dry (try).... Brad
 

~ World's Greenest WATER PUMP ~

Water can be pumped up hill, by its own power only.. A cistern can be filled this way or it can be rainwater collected off a roof for example.
Some are simply a hollow storage container,water at bottom is left alone to avoid debris or settled matter. Other old ones have a crude filter,( imagine drawing water out of a small brick box inside storage container.) A spring house to cool milk or butter or just to use like a fridge could be built on a spring,carefully as springs can be stopped with improper tampering.Have seen an underground barn here in Michigan and a big mound behind a doctors residence that was very old I was told was like a work shop for original owner. Railroad looking rail and cement don,t date it young enough to ignore but not seeming like anything native.A discard pile for rocks if not for the rail and cement.
Cement cap a rock walled pile with an rail beamed...no charring from fire showing as in a charcoal or as mentioned pottery kiln.
Not sure I would want to probe it.Could have been (I know its far fetched )an explosives store.Who knows what was going on ,stump removal,boulder breaking,moving,ponds being created.
Root cellar should have a side access.Bomb or storm shelter too. Well , stock tank or cistern top.
 

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Ha ha that is really cool :)
 

Very interested to see how this turns out.
 

Menotomymaps, I was thinking from the start, from the pic of the rail. Is that a railroad tie?

Your only about 7 hrs away, Like Peter Gabriel said, I wana be your sledgehammer
 

I'd like to see close up of iron sticking out and close up of a piece of the cement. Concrete- not that old, Mortar can be. Tabby - old. Any military training camp in area ? WW1 WW2 looks bunkerish to me. I hunted Camp Wheeler in GA and there were a lot of old bunkers there. I stopped after finding a live Howitzer shell.
 

Limitool said:
Yea I think the rod idea might be a good way to start. As long as your soil is soft enough (I don't mean frozen or the frost line)... I mean soft enough. In MI. you could push a shovel into the soil and pull out a full shovel full so probing was easy. But here in TN. I'd bend the rod in two after the first 1/2" (there's no such thing as shoveling here). If the soil is soft... maybe make the probe 4-5 ft. because you'll be pushing it a lot it appears horizontally. Grind tip to point and spot weld a handle to other end. Shouldn't cost much at all (so I say). Maybe mark the rod at 6" increments with magic marker or paint with each foot its own color or just count and map.

Ok.... gotta go get more coffee and fix breakfast now. You take day off work and get to probing... WE ALL WANNA KNOW!!!!!!!!! That's all we want for Christmas... well some of us... maybe? Later, Brad
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The soil is rocky around here, but I think the soil on the sides of the mounds will be mostly free of rocks. Just roots to deal with.
 

Kodiak43351 said:
I don't think you are making excuses I would be thinking about that site all day and wanting to get out the but the reality is it's not like we all live in a warm climate this time of year. We got another 6 inches of snow here overnight and from what I've read here it isn't easy to get to and you can't take a 4x4 to the site to haul gear you are going to need as well as warm up in and this thread is nothing like those other threads where someone starts one and we never hear anything again you have been keeping us updated. Hey you never know you might find a jar full of 2 dollar bills in there and only show us one of them lol ( some people might remember that thread form earlier this year). If it warms up and you can pack all the stuff ya need to to the site then you can let us all know what's in there. Keep us updated and here is to hoping you find something amazing in whatever that thing is.
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Thanks.
We got about 8 - 10 inches last night.
 

dasabighole said:
I'd like to see close up of iron sticking out and close up of a piece of the cement. Concrete- not that old, Mortar can be. Tabby - old. Any military training camp in area ? WW1 WW2 looks bunkerish to me. I hunted Camp Wheeler in GA and there were a lot of old bunkers there. I stopped after finding a live Howitzer shell.
Click to expand...

Nothing military near here.
Here's a closeup of the rail.
I don't know cement from mortar, but I do know railroads didn't come to this area until after 1825. And if it was scrap, salvaged from some other project it would be later than that.

IMG_1071a.webp
 

Using the Municipality's GIS site I pulled this aerial photo of the mound.

mound_topophoto1.webp
 

Gonna tag this, just so I don't forget about it by the time y'all thaw out back there.
 

menotomymaps... I honestly don't know the difference either between cement and mortar. At least poured out over the ground. Maybe a close-up photo of the "cement" and see if someone here can tell us. What would it matter...? Don't know but it might be a clue that will fit in later. QUESTION: Is there a road or an old road leading to this spot that would allow a large truck to pour this mass of cement or mortar on top of this mound? Seems a little remote but if there was an orchard there in the past vehicles probably had access...??? Windmill idea / comment does make sense at moment. But that domed cement top is just weird. Hopefully if you do decide to use the probe idea you don't hit a lot of rocks. By marking the probe you might be able to "map" a structure if its there beneath the mound. I mentioned a 3/8" rod before... but maybe 1/4" or 5/16" which is a little smaller might work better....???
 

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I have been thinking about this and If I was you I would be very careful starting to uncover this thing. Seeing as you have no clue what it is. I was thinking there might of been a wind mill, the legs would of straddled the dome. Any iron or steel sticking up from the ground? A cistern chamber for holding water for the orchard would be below a wind mill.. Again just be very car full if there was a wind mill at this site they dug a very big hole if they were going to spend the money to erect a wind mill. A deep hole would explain extra over burden of dirt.
 

This is a very interesting story...keep us posted...tag
 

Helix said:
If it is a cistern or water related sure looks like it would be a great place for a wind mill. That might explain a power source.
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Windmill is a great idea, given the location.
I've checked my books and on-line sources but so far haven't found any reference to a windmill in this area.
 

There's a courser cement on top, and the whiter stuff at the bottom of the cap.
 

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