Finding somewhere to hunt

[Customx_12]

I?m having a hard time. I live in the Central Valley of California surrounded by farm land. There aren?t any ghost towns and such near me and I don?t have much interest in local parks hoping to find a nickel or two.

For those of you who don?t live near historical battlefields, ghost towns, or anything along those lines, how do you find a place to hunt? I can?t seem to find Sanborn maps available without a secret code or something so what resources should I consider?

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Treasure of Victoria Peak - Grab it through Amazon!

[cpomike13]

Living so close to the motherlode, you should be looking for mining camps. There's a family on YouTube a couple of uncle's and their nefews who hunt mining camps, and the kill it! Finding gold and silver coins. Those guys didn't have banks, they hid and buried them.

 

[Customx_12]

Living so close to the motherlode, you should be looking for mining camps. There's a family on YouTube a couple of uncle's and their nefews who hunt mining camps, and the kill it! Finding gold and silver coins. Those guys didn't have banks, they hid and buried them.

I’m in the southern Central Valley but I’m intrigued by the notion. It would be a mini weekend vacation rather than a day hunt but it sounds fun. I have some books on old ghost towns not far away but do you happen to know a resource to find smaller mining camps? Also, do you happen to know the YouTube channel name you’re referencing?

 

[angelito1]

Found a website for you… legendsofamerica.com

 

[releventchair]

https://www.loc.gov/maps/?fa=location:california&dates=1800-1899&st=grid

 

[Fat]

...How about the local fair grounds and rodeo arena? Lots of people spending and getting change back. I’m just getting into this hobby and have had My best luck by the concessions and dance hall areas.
Good luck!

 

[Oscar Goldman]

Also look for Old Schools, Old Church locations, Campgrounds, rural train stops. Even highway rest stops. Anywhere people would gather. With the dry season, one issue you might face is how hard the dirt is to dig.

 

[cactusman]

Anywhere people have been can unearth a lot of new sites; ask around, see where things used to be. Check out old history books of your area; you will be surprised at what you will find out... I remember living near an area where I thought there wasn't much to be found, then did some local research and found where an old drive-in used to be, then a swimming pond (long filled in, but the old photos showed me where the people gathered), then a school that had burned down leaving nothing but a concrete slab.

When I searched those areas many old coins and other items were quickly located, a bunch in one spot, so apparently I was the first or one of the first to do that research and then search it with my metal detector.

THAT is the beauty of researching; you will find places you never knew about, and some that have never been searched!

 

[Customx_12]

All good suggestions, thanks everyone!

 

[CCDAMEEK]

Here are a couple links I pulled up that might interest research for you:
https://libguides.humboldt.edu/c.php?g=303785&p=2028430

https://digitallibrary.californiahistoricalsociety.org/object/1473

https://www.socalregion.com/highways/maps/

 

[WG2020]

Customx12,

They can be found on YouTube at “CA Relics Adventure with Ron Swenson and Mark Dayton. One of them is also on TNet though I don’t remember their user name. They post from time to time. Good luck with your hunts. Walt

 

[cpomike13]

Search for old names of places, then search for newspapers from those towns or camps. Give you an example: I live near Pomona and Walnut, both towns in socal. But in the 1850s to bout 1880s was a town by the name of Spadra. The only 3 things still exist from that town, spadra landfill, Spadra cemetery, and philips mansion.