I disappointing day out

[vespaboy]

Thanks to a knowledgeable member here on the forum, I was able to find out some really cool history about the town where I live and I was motivated to do some research;

Welcome from Virginia, seeing Mount Airy was a stage coach stop back to 1750 you have a bunch of history waiting to be found. Happy Hunting.

Well, I found this old postcard from 1870 with an overlay of where the current middle school is:


Using Google Maps and having a little ramble, I set off to find any remnants of these mills.
It was a pleasant day, I enjoyed being out, and I was chuffed to find the foundations of one of the buildings.
Sadly, the ground looked like this:






What is wrong with some people? I was so sad, not just that I wouldn't be able to detect but because the Earth was viewed by some as just another place to throw away your rubbish.

Sorry to rant, I'll get over it.

On a happier note:
I did meet someone who actually lives on the old stagecoach trail who was a detectorist years ago, and now we've made plans to hit the trail this summer!

 

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[Professor of Engineering]

Nice story, thanks for sharing! GL & HH

 

[smokeythecat]

In the "old days" it was customarily to just throw out all the trash with no regard to the future or anything else. Some idiots still do it.

 

[Tpmetal]

Around here old cellars have been used as dumping grounds since they were abandoned in late 1800's to early 1920's. So about half the cellars I hunt are like this, the dumping seemed to have slowed around the late 1980's or early 1990's judging by the trash. Just gotta keep working it and removing signals and trash until the good stuff pops up.

 

[BLK HOLE]

Yep, that site will be hard work, but if your research is good and all you are dealing with is just a bunch of trash left behind the good stuff is there. You can do some pre-dig clean up before you start swinging.

 

[against the wind]

Yep, a couple of rakes and garbage bags are in the back of the pickup. You may have to spend a few hours of prep digging but who knows , there might be some neat stuff waiting for you.

 

[dirtdigginfool]

Yep, a couple of rakes and garbage bags are in the back of the pickup. You may have to spend a few hours of prep digging but who knows , there might be some neat stuff waiting for you.

Exactly! Directly across the road from me, I can walk up a hill in the woods and there's an old farm dump, you can see where they backed up to the top of the hill and tossed it down the other side. Nasty...but as ATW stated, there IS a lot of neat old stuff to root through. I've gotten a bunch of nice bottles, there's TONS of those little brown bottles that had the rubber plug at the top, appear to be animal medicine bottles. One man's trash.....Ddf

 

[Phishfarmer]

I've hunted worse. Since the area has historical significance get in touch with a local volunteer group that picks up trash. Sometimes a group is just waiting for a location to clean up. Sometimes the sheriff's dept. has inmates that pick up trash. The Boy Scouts are another possibility. Just a thought. I wouldn't give up on it.

HH

 

[thrifty76now]

I can remember doing some serious research using old maps and in reaching the area finding it littered just like your pictures.So try,try again is a good motto to stand by.

 

[dirtlooter]

the 1st step to wading into the abyss of trash is just getting started. it can be very intimidating indeed but the gains can be crazy good. unfortunately for some of us older people, our bodies tend to disagree with major projects like that.

 

[sutphin]

HIT THE TRAIL A RUNNING, GO WEST YOUNG MAN GO WEST.