Old School Site

ANTIQUARIAN · May 5, 2014

I went out for my usual 3hr Sunday morning hunt and headed for an athletic field. Through online research I discovered that the field was in use when a WWII Pilot training site was located here in the early 40’s. Unfortunately, the field was so saturated with water from the last three days of rain that every hole I dug immediately filled with water. :dontknow:

So I decided to head back to my old standby ‘The Myrtle School’ site. I can honestly say that there’s not much left to find here, so when I detect here now I go very slow and investigate all solid signals from every direction. My first interesting find was half a horseshoe, funny thing is … this is the first horseshoe I’ve found in 3 years of hunting here. My next find was the hanging pendant with a purple ‘amethyst’ stone set in a fancy gold-plated brass setting.

I decided to head down a small hill from the site to a marshy area. During the year this area is often heavily overgrown; this is where I found the decorated silver-plated compact cover. It’s amazing how many compacts I’ve found over the years! :laughing7:

The Myrtle School was a one-room schoolhouse built in 1880 and educated the local kids on this site for the better part of 100 years. In 1915 a local school inspector stated in a report that, "The Myrtle School is very drafty and the stove had to be stoked with wood frequently to keep the school comfortable for the children." Upon inspection of the outdoor toilets he noted, "The doors have not been properly maintained and allow the snow to collect in the seating areas." The original building was of board and batten construction and in 1940 was covered with insubrick. In July 1940, the building was raised and a basement built underneath. The building was demolished in 1978. The property is now a rural park setting and sees little use due to its remote location.

Thanks very much for looking and best of luck,
Dave

PS. I currently have the pendant in the 'tumbler' and will post pics of it cleaned up!

Msbeepbeep · May 5, 2014

Great bunch of finds!

frostdigger · May 5, 2014

Nice finds and history of the school, cool pictures.

Fyrguy86 · May 5, 2014

Cool finds. Congrats!

ANTIQUARIAN · May 5, 2014

Here are some pics of the pendant after tumbling for the past 18hrs. :thumbsup:

Thanks very much for your posts Msbeepbeep, frostdigger & Fyrguy86! :occasion14:

Dave

RobRieman · May 5, 2014

Looks awesome! What media did you tumble it in?

Steve in PA · May 5, 2014

That is a pretty pendant Dave!

el remolino · May 5, 2014

Wow, That cleaned up really nice!!!!

Old Dude · May 5, 2014

Very nice hunts, Dave. You always share great pics. Thanks for letting us see.

Trezurehunter · May 5, 2014

Nice "mix" of finds.

ANTIQUARIAN · May 5, 2014

RobRieman said:
Looks awesome! What media did you tumble it in?

Thanks Rob! :thumbsup:

I use a combination of 1/2" polished aquarium gravel and granular 'B' rough gravel, an 80/20 mix.
Best of luck to you,
Dave

Steve in PA said:
That is a pretty pendant Dave!

Thanks very much Steve!
Sure wish it had been gold though.
Dave

el remolino said:
Wow, That cleaned up really nice!!!!

Thanks very much el remolino! :thumbsup:

Best of luck to you,
Dave

Old Dude said:
Very nice hunts, Dave. You always share great pics. Thanks for letting us see.

You're very welcome my friend, thanks for having a look and posting! :occasion14:

Dave

Trezurehunter said:
Nice "mix" of finds.

Thanks!

OldJerseyGirl · May 5, 2014

Beautiful Pendant. Bet someone was sick when they lost that. And I LOVE the school. Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!

ANTIQUARIAN · May 5, 2014

OldJerseyGirl said:
Beautiful Pendant. Bet someone was sick when they lost that. And I LOVE the school. Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks very much for your post JerseyGirl! :thumbsup:

I completely agree, some of the items of personal jewelery the kids lost here over the years have been pretty amazing. Every time I find a 'personal relic' like this at this site, I know it may be hard to believe, but I get emotional. It's probably due to the fact that I've been detecting this 1/2 acre property for over 3 years now and I almost feel a connection to these kids ... I know it sounds crazy but it's true. :laughing7:

Best of luck to you,
Dave