found the privy

[unclemac]

...so I found the privy....


but how the heck do I dig this one?

 

[DFX DAVE in M.D.]

Are you sure its a privy and not a small garden border. If it is a privy the ground looks soft. Many old time waterman here in Maryland describe the Chesapeake Bay as a privy, lol.

 

[unclemac]

no, the brick goes down as far as I can probe and there is a brick lined well 30 feet "up stream". 60 years ago this stretch of beach was very different, it had a year round stream, (county diverted it)....protected sandy beach cove, (county hauled it off for road projects)...high bank grass land, (county...well you get the picture). I have found 20 or so old medicines directly in front of this feature along the tide line over the years, always wondered where they were coming from.

 

[redbeardrelics]

Dig it at low tide, pile the removed dirt between you and the incoming tide, have plenty of 5 gallon buckets and friends there to keep the hole bailed out. Tough work for sure depending upon the potential depth of the pit. have fun, be safe, and take plenty of pictures to post.HH

 

[Bass]

You might be able to sandbag around it. I would get 3-4 away from it when sandbagging. Then use the dirt you remove to pile on top of your sand bags. This is going to be a tricky dig. There's a good chance it's going to fill up with water as you remove the dirt. You may want to bring good luck son along. Good luck on this one and keep us posted.

 

[unclemac]

every spade full is instantly filled with water, there is no bailing that...wish it weren't.

 

[Bass]

All you can do is move as much sand as possible down to about 3 ft and get whatever is in the top of this hole. You might have to walk away from the rest of it

 

[mrmozambique13]

possibly another well?

 

[Bass]

Yep that's right. It could be another well. I'm just assuming uncle mace is correct in saying this is a privy.

 

[unclemac]

the well is much smaller in diameter. Both of these (objects, I guess) are associated with an old Indians house made in the settler style, he lived on the beach up to the early 40's.

 

[mrmozambique13]

looks pretty cool tho! Just make a 15 FT probe

 

[epackage]

Bring a generator and a pump

 

[unclemac]

the tide comes in twice a day and covers it up, often ten feet deep, i forgot to mention that part.

 

[sunrunner]

strange place to but a privy . in the middle of a mud flat?

 

[unclemac]

wasn't like that 100 years ago, it was 3-4 feet up on a bank, all grass and trees. The beach in front of it was a popular Chinook trade ground, where 5 different villages could walk or paddle to within an hour at the most. The early settlers intermarried with the local village and the basin continued to be a local picnic/party spot until the county destroyed it in the 60's. If you notice that tall post like thing top left in the first picture, that is part of the remains of an old wooden bulkhead and was about where the land used to go out to.

 

[jgas]

Wow and can't even imagine how to do that one safely. i have a 12 foot extended probe we use occasionally but that might not make to the use layer. Army Corp of engineers...you get buddies like that and you have a chance! LOL...Be careful either way.

 

[CoilyGirl]

What a great opportunity! Hope you can find a way to dig that safely.

 

[keith2004]

you could remove what brick you can and use it to build a channel that further erodes that spot but that brick looks fairly new to me.if the site was in use from the settler days (1700's?) until the 1940's there should be more privy pits nearby.continue probing until you find shallower targets to dig while the tides uncover the pit you photographed.

 

[unclemac]

..settler days out here mean 1850's at the earliest and this place can't be older than 1880's. There are other things to see, like old boards sticking in the flats and foundation stones, that sort of thing.

 

[diverrick]

Dredge it. Pull off the bigger stuff by hand and let the machine screen off the smalls.