jgas
Silver Member
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- Apr 23, 2008
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- Midwesterner
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- DFX, Pro 6000XL, SunRay Probe, Centech Pinpointer
Hey folks, it was a great day to finally get back out and do some pit digging. Its been hard finding the time and finding a place to put the probes in the ground in hopes of scoring some nice glass. 
Don and I set out at around 9am knowing I only had about 5 hours of digging time. We had not found a pit on this particular lot before but we knew we had to keep trying. So a nice methodical grid search of the grounds and using an 1893 map of the area hopefully put us in the right area. Figuring the privy would be on the edges of the yard we started to probe. After about 50 pokes we came up empty. So it was back to the map for a quick review of the yard as it was laid out back then. I saw an out building in the yard and then figured the pits would be around that. But I still thought the pit would be by the alley far away from the home. Sure enough we found a trash pit about 3 feet deep. No biggie, I will dig a trash pit if it dates back a hundred years. So we tapped into this one and sure enough there were pottery shards and glass tooled tops from old medicines. Old enough for me
So we kept digging and I found a small cobalt blank medicine. Kept on going and out pops a perfect cobalt Sanfords Radical Cure. I figured dating to mid 1880's. So then it was Don's turn. He started off with a broken Sanfords and thought he jinxed the hole but it was not to be as he pulled out another near perfect Sanfords. Unreal to find two of these in one pit. Don found a Piso's cure to finish this pit out.
Then it was on to more probing. The map of the garage was calling me to hammer the probes through that ground. The first foot or so of the soil is like cement but once you break through its not too bad. The area around 5 feet down was loaded with gravel and rocks throughout the whole yard. But I finally hit an area that did not have these stones and it was soft with a dirty wood colored probe tip after pulling the rod out of the ground. So I knew I was onto something. I also found the remnants of an old sidewalk running up to the area. So this had to be a privy. After digging for an hour through the hard pack soil and rocks we finally got to the top of the use layer and sure enough it was a privy. Complete with deteriorated wood walls. We dug several medicines including two U.S. Corn Cures, Munyons Paw Paw, A Dr. Kings Throat and Lung Balsam and a few fruit jar lids. Don pulled out an 1893 Aqua Insulator and a broken beehive style insulator. Funny how we found all these fruit jar lids and no Masons anywhere.
So after we were completeing this privy Don poked to the side and broke right into another one about a foot away. Sweet
So he dug into that pit and wouldn't ya know it, a mason jar. Broke of course. Several more were found broken but I was able to find The Gem fruit jar intact. Then Don pulled out a quart blob beer. I then jumped into the pit that was now about 6 feet deep. I found a pint blob beer and another quart blobber. Several other gin bottles and plates and cups came to the light after 120 years in the Earth. Cool history in your hands, that's all I could think of. There must have been 5 or so tiny dolls in the pit as well as a baby food jar. But alas it came to an end and we filled the pit back in. It was a great day with some great glass and great Autumn weather. So get out and enjoy it while it lasts. Hope you enjoy the pics and until next time, be safe out there and good luck on all your treasure finds!! jgas
Don and I set out at around 9am knowing I only had about 5 hours of digging time. We had not found a pit on this particular lot before but we knew we had to keep trying. So a nice methodical grid search of the grounds and using an 1893 map of the area hopefully put us in the right area. Figuring the privy would be on the edges of the yard we started to probe. After about 50 pokes we came up empty. So it was back to the map for a quick review of the yard as it was laid out back then. I saw an out building in the yard and then figured the pits would be around that. But I still thought the pit would be by the alley far away from the home. Sure enough we found a trash pit about 3 feet deep. No biggie, I will dig a trash pit if it dates back a hundred years. So we tapped into this one and sure enough there were pottery shards and glass tooled tops from old medicines. Old enough for me So we kept digging and I found a small cobalt blank medicine. Kept on going and out pops a perfect cobalt Sanfords Radical Cure. I figured dating to mid 1880's. So then it was Don's turn. He started off with a broken Sanfords and thought he jinxed the hole but it was not to be as he pulled out another near perfect Sanfords. Unreal to find two of these in one pit. Don found a Piso's cure to finish this pit out.Then it was on to more probing. The map of the garage was calling me to hammer the probes through that ground. The first foot or so of the soil is like cement but once you break through its not too bad. The area around 5 feet down was loaded with gravel and rocks throughout the whole yard. But I finally hit an area that did not have these stones and it was soft with a dirty wood colored probe tip after pulling the rod out of the ground. So I knew I was onto something. I also found the remnants of an old sidewalk running up to the area. So this had to be a privy. After digging for an hour through the hard pack soil and rocks we finally got to the top of the use layer and sure enough it was a privy. Complete with deteriorated wood walls. We dug several medicines including two U.S. Corn Cures, Munyons Paw Paw, A Dr. Kings Throat and Lung Balsam and a few fruit jar lids. Don pulled out an 1893 Aqua Insulator and a broken beehive style insulator. Funny how we found all these fruit jar lids and no Masons anywhere.
So after we were completeing this privy Don poked to the side and broke right into another one about a foot away. Sweet So he dug into that pit and wouldn't ya know it, a mason jar. Broke of course. Several more were found broken but I was able to find The Gem fruit jar intact. Then Don pulled out a quart blob beer. I then jumped into the pit that was now about 6 feet deep. I found a pint blob beer and another quart blobber. Several other gin bottles and plates and cups came to the light after 120 years in the Earth. Cool history in your hands, that's all I could think of. There must have been 5 or so tiny dolls in the pit as well as a baby food jar. But alas it came to an end and we filled the pit back in. It was a great day with some great glass and great Autumn weather. So get out and enjoy it while it lasts. Hope you enjoy the pics and until next time, be safe out there and good luck on all your treasure finds!! jgas
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