Anyone ever tried detecting along old stone wall in New England?

[treasurekidd]

Hello! I am a newbie MD'r in Rhode Island. In just the last few days, my daughter and I have combed local school yards, and came away with a pile of change, all clad. My question is about old stone walls. The woods of New England are loaded with old stone walls, about 1-2 feet high, that seem to go on forever. Is anyone familiar with the history behind these old walls, and has anyone every tried or had luck MDing them? A friend told me these walls are 100's of years old, and used to be route markers and/or property boundy markers. Any ideas?

 

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[EW7115]

Living in New Hampshire there are many stone walls everywhere. They were built from rock removed from farmer's fields and placed mostly along property boundaries, many are still used as boundary markers. Most of the fields are now forest, but the walls remain. I have heard stories of people finding stuff stashed in them. One of my father's friends found an old revolver in a stone wall. Sometime when I get back to my parents house I would like to try detecting on the stone walls on our property.

 

[kenb]

Upstate NY has MILES of stone walls, I found a structure 5 feet high 7 feet wide and 10 feet long built exactly like the walls only much bigger.It's approx. 75 yards off a fire road in the middle of some large tree's. I have know idea why someone would put so much effort into building something of this size. There isn't any clearing nearby so it's not like someone was clearing a field. Very strange, but next time I'm going up I'll definitely detect it!!

 

[DanInMA]

I do them whenever I can. I know of at least a couple of coin caches that have been found between rocks. Be prepared to hear lots of iron. Often, barbed wire was strung alongside the walls in more modern times. Remnants will drive you nuts. Personally, I've come up with lots of iron farm tools (hoes, pitch forks, etc.) Seems they get left alongside the walls. Look for the breaks in the walls and search the heavily trod paths on either side. I've come up with some nice old buttons this way. Good Luck, Dan

 

[jeff of pa]

My hunting Buddy Rich found 2 $2.50 gold coins along a stone wall here in PA. so you never know what you might find.

 

[treasurekidd]

I am rarin to go detect an area along a wall on my friends property. His land includes an area of stone wall about 100 yards into the woods behind his house. Right in the middle of the wall section on his property is an opening in the wall, approx 3 feet wide, almost like an entrance way. Behind this section of the wall is a small clearing right in the middle of the woods. Almost no trees to speak of in this clearing, although the grass is knee high, almost as if this may have once been where a home or other structure stood. Having researched the area a bit, we believe that the property was once a farm The opening in the wall leading to the clearing is intriguing to say the least. Also, in front of the wall to the right of the clearing is a giant pine tree, easily twice as high as any other tree in the woods, which is my mind anyway, dates it as having been there much longer than the rest of the woods. Prime place for the folks back then to stop and take a break in the shade! We are going to start at the large tree, and fan out from there, searching along the wall, and into the clearing behind it. This will have to wait until spring though, as the wall area is covered in years of leaves and forest debris. We plan on clearing the area around the wall, without disturbing the wall itself, of course, and mowing down the knee high grass in the clearing. Anyone out there have any ideas or feedback we can incorporate into this project? I'd love to hear from experienced hunters about this. Thanks in advance!

 

[jeff of pa]

Sounds to me Like you already got things under control. and your plan is perfect. as long as you also plan on detecting the wall itself. there may be something in between the rocks, either put there on purpose, or dropped from a shirt pocket, while bending forward to place the rocks in place. I"m Shure Your Already wishing on Spring? HH ; JEFF

 

[treasurekidd]

Jeff, spring can't come fast enough, lol! I'm a newbie, only about a month into my new love, MDing! I have the bug bad, and I can't wait for this winter to be over. It was 21 degrees this morning, which is too cold for the beach for me. So, I grabbed a rake, started clearing leaves out of my yard, and started hunting my back yard! Spring should come to RI around the same time as PA, so while I'm out hunting my colonial era stone wall site, I'll be wishing you luck on your PA Civil War sites! HH!

 

[swizzle]

I live in upstate new york and I've located what i believe is a stone wall using terraserver. Its very long and is close to a half circle. On one end of it there is a loop that resembles the eye of a needle. Any clue on the purpose of this oval end? Jason