Finding historical Areas?

gurganus88 · Aug 14, 2012

Hey yal,

Ive always been alil bit of a history buff. The other day i picked up a Garrett ace 350 and wanna try it out. I'm In Chesapeake VA and have plenty of beach to comb. However i would love to find some relics (Civil War, Revolution, Ect.) do any of yal know of any good websites that have info on war camps, lumber mils, old meeting places and what not. any info would be much appreciated.

p.s: I'm bout as new to this as they come so please excuse me if i asked a very stupid question lol

gleaner1 · Aug 14, 2012

At the library, old newspapers on microfilm are good (if available). My library has the town newspapers on film back to 1870. Word of mouth with the old timers is good too.
Find areas with activity and get permission from land owners. Sounds easy but far from easy. Lots of work here and you got a bunch of guys out there that have been doing it for thirty plus years. Very tough row to hoe.

Dwight S · Aug 16, 2012

Welcome to T-Net!!!

Good news… There’s a lot of history around Chesapeake VA… Bad news… There’s a lot of history around Chesapeake VA… :laughing7:

You are going to have to work hard to find spots to hunt. There are some spots around there, but gaining permission may be very tough. You have everything… Colonial, Revolutionary and Civil War. Steer WAY clear of state and federal parks! You don’t want the grief of being caught detecting on state and federal park land. If you’re caught, you’ll be looking at jail time, a fine, loss of vehicle and detector. Also, with so much history there, detectorists have been hunting it since the first detectors came out in the 60s, so most known spots have been beat to death. Some detectorists have no ethics and will “nighthawk” sites they can’t obtain permission to detect, which puts the moral detectorists who want to do things the right way in a bad position and unable to obtain permission. Some landowners just won’t grant permission because of past experiences, which is unfortunate.

Start out learning your detector in your yard and in the fields and woods of family and friends. You may be very surprised with what you find. There is 100’s of years of history around you, you just have to run the coil over it. Read the detector’s user guide. Look for videos on Garrett’s web site to learn how to get the most out of the detector. Practice pinpointing and recovering a target. It's not as simple as some make it out to be and one way to upset someone is to dig a big hole in their nice grass... Recovery technique is key!

As for web sites, use Google to do searches. There’s plenty of info on T-net on how to web search for hunt locations, check the “relic hunting” forum for a good current post about it. As Gleaner1 said, the library should have some more local information for you.

Learn to use the Geographic Information System (GIS) for your local area. Go to Google search and type in your county followed by GIS. You’ll get a search list of several sites that will give you mapping information. The most obvious site will probably be your local county tax web site. The GIS mapping application will give you roads, aerials and property lines on the map and a parcel number. From that info, you can learn a lot, including age of any structures (old houses), and the landowner’s name for parcels you may want to seek permission to hunt.

Also, look at your surroundings, read road signs. “Old” in the name usually implies that it is an OLD road. Old Stage Rd… Guess what that road once was? Old ______ Church, guess what, that is most likely an old church site. (No sarcasm intended!!!!) Point being, you have to open your mind up more than you have in the past to help you find productive spots. I know the state road network in Virginia is somewhat different than it is in NC. I know a lot of secondary roads in Virginia are rather narrow and many are tree lined. A lot of these roads are rather old paths that have been widened and paved over the years. Find some of these roads, research landowners and local history and seek permission.

Also, look up the local metal detecting club, Tidewater Coin and Relic Club. Nothing can beat networking and learning from others.

Good luck with it.
Dwight