outhouse sites

[coinshooter1]

How do you find old outhouse sites? I know someone that digs old bottles from these and i dont know how he finds them. I would like to start digging for bottles and need to know where to start.

Happy Hunting
Coinshooter

 

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[Bartman]

Scratch and Sniff?

JK, I think most people look for depressions in the ground near the appropriate spots then use a probe (usually metal to stick deep in the ground and "listen" for glass.

 

[Jaw Jah Danny]

Scratch and Sniff?

I remember my grand parents, the ones that lived in the country. The 2 seater ! was behind the house about
100' .

Them were the good old days

 

[kane23]

Behind the house along the property line look for depressions. Then use a metal outhouse probe made from Spring steel (about 3 ft long),with a crossbar handle and a raised weld spot near the tip so you can look for traces of ashes and other materials when you probe. Also look for old dumps around the perimiters of towns. then carefully dig, good hunting.....Kane 23

 

[ruffneck]

I'm not into the hobby of outhouse digging, but i've heard more than one old timer say
" look for a rosebush in the old yard". Lots of times the bush will be growing over an old
outhouse hole.. Good luck!!

 

[Minstrel]

Here is an article and photo of a two story outhouse in Michigan:

Cedar Lake, Michigan - Two-Story Outhouse

I have lived virtually all my life in Cedar Lake. In college I wrote a paper on the two-story outhouse, who built it and why. I researched the subject at the Montcalm County Courthouse and in all of the local libraries and at the Michigan State Library in Lansing, Michigan.

The man who built the home with the two-story outhouse was William Nelson. He owned a prosperous logging company and was first to settle in that neck of the woods. There was a small town about a mile up the road from where he settled, most of which is now gone. It was called Shorter Town. William Nelson platted (did the subdivision of land) and registered the town of Cedar Lake. The current town is not a bit like his platting.

The Nelson home was NEVER a hotel. All my life I was told that it was a hotel, but in my research I didn't find any evidence for this claim. It has been a number of things, i.e. a barrel factory, a honey house and a general store. William Nelson had a general store in the lower part of his building. He also had his office there. The upper part and possibly the back of the building were his family's personal dwelling. As owner of a logging company, Nelson had many men who worked for him. Most were single and were in and out of the store and his office. To keep his seven daughters (he had no sons) apart from the riff-raff of the society they lived around, Mr. Nelson build the two-story outhouse -- the upper story to be used by his family and the lower level to be used by the general public.

The man who owns the house now has not done anything to keep the outhouse in good repair and every year it leans a little more. Every spring I expect it to fall, but as of June, 2005, it is still standing -- like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It has sunk into the ground quite a bit and the top door and the door in the back of the house no longer match up. [Margie Conner, 06/28/2005]

 

[Goes4ever]

this site has a ton of info, plus daytondigger is a member on this forum
http://daytondigger.com/DaytonDiggers.html

 

[allen]

might start by asking the older people in you area,
they may remember where they where located at
on some of the land they lived on when growing up !

 

[Kentucky Kache]

I remember someone saying that when you start digging, you'll know you're in the right spot because the soil will be dark/rich. That makes sense.

 

[Rasputin]

Look up your area on a Sanborn fire insurance map. They were compiled in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century by the Sanborn company for insurance companies to calculate their risk. They will show all structures including outhouses. It's amazing the detail sometimes. It will show distance in feet between structures. You can easily find a structure's location that has not stood for years.

 

[Nick A]

Maybe this is too obvious, but why not ask the guy you know in your area? Speaking from personal experience, the best way to learn is by going on a dig with someone who knows what they are doing. Plus, you really should not dig alone. It's a lot of work, dirt walls can fall in on you, probing can be tricky...

Depressions, spring steel probes and Sanborn maps are all excellent ways to locate privies.

For more info:
http://www.daytondigger.com/
http://privydigging.com/
http://www.privydigger.com/

 

[Sky Pilot]

Also, outhouses were generally uphill, in hilly country, for obvious reasons. Like Jaw Ja Danny said, the privy will usually be no more than 100 feet from the homesite, again for obvious reasons. Also, if you are fortunate enough to discover coins away from the homesite, within that general 100 foot area, you may be close to a privy, as many older men will tell you, there were times when, mostly at night, the overalls were on the way down as a man progressed to the privy! Thusly, coins fell out, and in haste, no one would stop to look for them at the time, and we ALL know how hard it can be to find a coin lying in the grass, even if we purposely threw it down for a quick detector test sweep! It's kind of like solving a mystery game, put these clues with what you know about an area, and you will be successful, if you persevere! One other hopefully helpful tip: If you find an abandoned townsite, or there are old dwellings in your town still standing, the outhouse was always at the rear of hotels, apartment buildings, tenements and the like, USUALLY, but not always, of course, with a ditch or creek behind them, and depending on the size of the dwelling, there could be one to six privies per building, and they also usually had alley access. Great hunting and good luck! Regards, Richard