Cellar holes?

[cdsieg]

Could you find one in the middle of nowhere, in the woods with nothing around near a fresh spring? If yes might I find big hunks of cast iron pieces and some brick or rocks? How do you locate one I mean what are the clues or signs of an area you should start digging?

This is the post I posted that has me asking these questions, any help would be so wonderful! Thanks, Cindy

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/w...etals-what-might-they-tell-me-about-area.html

 

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[HutSiteDigger]

it is quite common to find old trash pits near streams like this, I have dug several colonial trash pits all located next to a stream before, normally on a hill side leading down to a stream and it's almost better to find a trash pit than a cellar sometimes since a lot of their trash is our treasure.. I would dig that hole out pretty good and see what you can find, hopefully its a 19th or 18th century trash pit you got! good luck.

 

[wvwildman]

a cellar hole will have stone walls

 

[HutSiteDigger]

a cellar hole will have stone walls

Yep Wildman is right most cellars you will find old stone wall blocks in there, however if they used Brick to make the cellar after 150-200+ years the brick can deteriorate but you should still see small little flecks of brick almost like gravel size, but any big stonewall block normally does not deteriorate like brick does..

 

[cdsieg]

Thanks Hutsite, I dug a trash pit back in WI and found some cool things. Here are some photos I posted on my "what is it" post about what I found by the spring .

 

[HutSiteDigger]

Was there a colonial house or anything on the land? was the land ever used for farming in the 19th or 18th century? this could just be a spot like an out building they had for the farm and where stuff was kept and stored.. could even be a house was there @ one time... with that spring being there I dont know if someone would pick that place to setup a trash pit and also i do not think due to the water level someone would dig a deep cellar next to a spring.

I don't know if you researched the property @ all but this spot could be a lot of things.. Main thing is there is evidence of something being there a century or two ago so it is your job to unearth it and find out what it is, only way of doing it is digging up the spot and seeing if you find artifacts,pottery,ash,glass whatever it may be. Also I see a brick laying on the ground in that photo you can learn a lot from a brick if you know what your looking at, the make of the brick can tell you the time frame your dealing with, did you dig that brick in the ground or has it just been laying there? Good luck

 

[cdsieg]

a cellar hole will have stone walls

Thanks wvwildman, I did find brick and or stone blocks, you can see them in the photos I just posted, but here is a closer up of some of the bricks / stones that were near my finds.
Thank you for replying and helping me out!
Cindy

 

[cdsieg]

Was there a colonial house or anything on the land? was the land ever used for farming in the 19th or 18th century? this could just be a spot like an out building they had for the farm and where stuff was kept and stored.. could even be a house was there @ one time... with that spring being there I dont know if someone would pick that place to setup a trash pit and also i do not think due to the water level someone would dig a deep cellar next to a spring.

I don't know if you researched the property @ all but this spot could be a lot of things.. Main thing is there is evidence of something being there a century or two ago so it is your job to unearth it and find out what it is, only way of doing it is digging up the spot and seeing if you find artifacts,pottery,ash,glass whatever it may be. Also I see a brick laying on the ground in that photo you can learn a lot from a brick if you know what your looking at, the make of the brick can tell you the time frame your dealing with, did you dig that brick in the ground or has it just been laying there? Good luck

I have been trying to make sense out of the old map I have of Franklin County and trying to find exact location on a Plat Map, but at this point I only know of one homestead that the owners of this land are aware of.

I am pretty sure with my detecting around here, that I have found a few other spots that were like homesteads. The area where this is happening, I am not aware of anything. The brick that you see in that photo way mostly just laying under a few leaves. The erosion took care of the rest. I plan to go back tomorrow where I can make a day of it and will have (I hope) a lot more info to share then. I hope to remember my camera and a tape measure, because it is a long walk especially when your carrying 25 pounds of metal or brick! I will bring it home some day on a walk and a backpack without the detector, shovel, pin pointer, lighter finds and etc!

 

[cdsieg]

Yep Wildman is right most cellars you will find old stone wall blocks in there, however if they used Brick to make the cellar after 150-200+ years the brick can deteriorate but you should still see small little flecks of brick almost like gravel size, but any big stonewall block normally does not deteriorate like brick does..

Hi hutsitedigger, I went back today and have some photos of the brick/stone could not find any markings on them,
I also found the big hunk of metal in the shape of a gun, this thing weighs at least 15 pounds It is about 17 x 4 x 4 . Then I found a corroded pipe coming out of the side of the bank into the spring, the second photo of the pipe is a hunk of it that broke off and is laying in the water.

 

[pa plateau hiker]

Not all houses had cellars. I dug a ghost town years ago that had dozens of houses and did not find any cellar and no outline of any house ever being there. They didn't even use rocks for a foundation. All they did was built their houses on top of the ground and over the years the lumber rotted away. You could walk through the area and never know there was a town there.

 

[Swartzie]

If it were me I would start searching in the direction the pipe coming out of the bank is heading.
-Swartzie

 

[cdsieg]

If it were me I would start searching in the direction the pipe coming out of the bank is heading.
-Swartzie

Thank you for the tip, logic usually confuses me! LOL

 

[HutSiteDigger]

Those stone bricks look typical for 19th century.. What century time frame are the relics you digging up around it? and do any of those bricks have any engraving on them? Here is a picture of a 1861 brick made by Savage Fire & Brick company I found in a gun pit... this is kind of style they were using in 19th century.

 

[dieselram94]

The item in the shape of a gun....maybe a boot scraper, usually mounted at the front door to scrape mud from ones boots?

 

[cdsieg]

Not all houses had cellars. I dug a ghost town years ago that had dozens of houses and did not find any cellar and no outline of any house ever being there. They didn't even use rocks for a foundation. All they did was built their houses on top of the ground and over the years the lumber rotted away. You could walk through the area and never know there was a town there.

Thanks for the information! I think it would be cool to dig a ghost town,

 

[cdsieg]

The item in the shape of a gun....maybe a boot scraper, usually mounted at the front door to scrape mud from ones boots?

That would be one mighty heavy boot scraper! But back then every thing was made out of heavy metals, so anything is possible! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

 

[cdsieg]

Those stone bricks look typical for 19th century.. What century time frame are the relics you digging up around it? and do any of those bricks have any engraving on them? Here is a picture of a 1861 brick made by Savage Fire & Brick company I found in a gun pit... this is kind of style they were using in 19th century.

Mostly 19th century and one revolutionary war item. I did not see any names on any of the bricks and I took photos of both sides. when I go back again I will see if I can dig up a couple of whole ones, the water in the spring may have dissolved or rubbed away the name.

 

[relicmeister]

interesting discussion,guys.

 

[HutSiteDigger]

Well good luck with it Cindy.. Let us know what you end up finding and solving what the mystery is!!

 

[cdsieg]

Well good luck with it Cindy.. Let us know what you end up finding and solving what the mystery is!!

Thanks HutSiteDigger, I hope to get back there again this week, I will let post if I find anything exciting or baffling!