Pittsburgh area detecting spots

[Will45]

I haven't been able to find many spots to detect outside of the main city. I would prefer to search the northern area. I would appreciate anyones opinions on where to detect.

 

[WVPapaw]

I haven't been able to find many spots to detect outside of the main city. I would prefer to search the northern area. I would appreciate anyones opinions on where to detect.

I lived near Butler, Pa and worked in downtown Pittsburgh from 1979 until 1991. During that time the subway system was installed. A lot of excavation work was done on Grant street and the excavated material was hauled away. I would say if you did some research and identified where the dirt was hauled to, you would be able to locate some fantastic finds if you could get permission to detect. I do remember newspaper reports about finding old bottles and relics during the excavation work.

The Mexican War street on the North side is certainly an interesting place. Haven't been there for years but at one time there were abandoned buildings/homes and areas that could prove interesting....again you would need to research property owners and get permission. Consider parks, river banks especially fishing and old swimming holes and areas where there may have been docks or marinas along the rivers and creeks in the area.

 

[Will45]

I lived near Butler, Pa and worked in downtown Pittsburgh from 1979 until 1991. During that time the subway system was installed. A lot of excavation work was done on Grant street and the excavated material was hauled away. I would say if you did some research and identified where the dirt was hauled to, you would be able to locate some fantastic finds if you could get permission to detect. I do remember newspaper reports about finding old bottles and relics during the excavation work.

The Mexican War street on the North side is certainly an interesting place. Haven't been there for years but at one time there were abandoned buildings/homes and areas that could prove interesting....again you would need to research property owners and get permission. Consider parks, river banks especially fishing and old swimming holes and areas where there may have been docks or marinas along the rivers and creeks in the area.

Thank you for the information.

 

[WVPapaw]

Thank you for the information.

If I think of anything else, I will let you know.

 

[WVPapaw]

Thank you for the information.

One other thing, my great grandparents lived in Pgh., downtown. He was a stonemason. They died two weeks apart in 1871 of smallpox and left an infant son who was practically a newborn, my grandfather, who was raised by an aunt. My great grandparents lived at 18 Wylie Avenue which as best I can tell is the site of the present day Civic Arena. Most of this area is a paved parking lot now. For safety, I would not venture up Wylie Avenue, but it might be worthwhile to do some research on the civic arena area and make an aerial map recon to see if there are any areas that could be detected with permission. Also there are gravel parking lots in the strip district along the Allegheny River from the area of the bus terminal up to 31 st bridge that would be worth seeking permission. I bet people were still carrying silver coins in their pockets when those lots opened up with daily parking rates under $2.00. Update: Just did a little research and it looks like the Mexican War Streets area is a historic district, as are many areas in the downtown section. Just need to make sure any area I mentioned is not protected against detecting and recovering finds. Sorry