topconsurveyor
Jr. Member
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2015
- Messages
- 20
- Reaction score
- 24
- Golden Thread
- 0
- Location
- Mitchell, IN
- Detector(s) used
- Garrett AT Pro
- Primary Interest:
- Other
Searching my 1700's Underground Railroad home...
I'm starting an ongoing post to show and tell about my finds from an apparently historic piece of property my wife and I just moved to. The road in front of the house was one of the the first original roads crossing Indiana and just down the hill from the house where it dead ends at the river was the original ferry crossing. The house we're living in now was originally a cabin built in the 1700's and was occupied by the ferry operator. I was shown in the basement where the original foundation was below the cabin, the house has been added on to many times since which most of it has partial crawl spaces. The original cabin portion still has the trap door that accessed the basement/cellar and in the cellar there are old limestone benches/beds around the outside wall. I was told these were used as beds for the runaway slaves when hiding in there when this house was a part of the underground railroad. I'll have to attach pics of the basement areas later.
I've always been interested in artifact hunting, usually stick with hunting arrowheads and other NA artifacts in plowed fields. I've always been interested in getting into metal detecting and I ordered a new Garrett AT Pro the day we moved here. The first day I got it I was home on my lunch break and threw it together in just a few minutes and within 5 feet of the front door I dug 3 wheat pennies on the first beep on the first hole, definitely beginners luck because those were the only coins I have found so far!
Yesterday I finally got a whole day to get out and really start learning my new machine and I think I'm getting the hang of it pretty fast. The areas closest to the house are so littered with iron trash every square foot that I decided to get back in the woods a bit. When i was back there I bet I dug probably 20 different bullets and modern shotgun shells, I did find one lead bullet that I'm posting a picture of that looks possibly very old it has 3 rings around it and I would appreciate any help in identifying it. I'm not sure on the caliber and its a little misshapen but it measures roughly 7/16" diameter and was probably about 3/4" in length.
The second 2 pictures are what I would call my first real good find out here. It's a flat button in very good shape, appears to be copper with a mostly worn off gold plating. I was very careful cleaning it when I got home and could make out some back markings that say "DOUBLE GILT" with a leaf/floral type design below with what appears to be a "Z" or an "N" in the middle. The quick research I did shows its probably an early 1800's flat button of European origin. The front of the button looks like it did have markings but I cant make it out. I also found a nice old reigns guide that I forgot to get a picture of but will later.
Thanks for looking, will update with new pics and stories after every successful hunt!
topconsurveyor
I'm starting an ongoing post to show and tell about my finds from an apparently historic piece of property my wife and I just moved to. The road in front of the house was one of the the first original roads crossing Indiana and just down the hill from the house where it dead ends at the river was the original ferry crossing. The house we're living in now was originally a cabin built in the 1700's and was occupied by the ferry operator. I was shown in the basement where the original foundation was below the cabin, the house has been added on to many times since which most of it has partial crawl spaces. The original cabin portion still has the trap door that accessed the basement/cellar and in the cellar there are old limestone benches/beds around the outside wall. I was told these were used as beds for the runaway slaves when hiding in there when this house was a part of the underground railroad. I'll have to attach pics of the basement areas later.
I've always been interested in artifact hunting, usually stick with hunting arrowheads and other NA artifacts in plowed fields. I've always been interested in getting into metal detecting and I ordered a new Garrett AT Pro the day we moved here. The first day I got it I was home on my lunch break and threw it together in just a few minutes and within 5 feet of the front door I dug 3 wheat pennies on the first beep on the first hole, definitely beginners luck because those were the only coins I have found so far!
Yesterday I finally got a whole day to get out and really start learning my new machine and I think I'm getting the hang of it pretty fast. The areas closest to the house are so littered with iron trash every square foot that I decided to get back in the woods a bit. When i was back there I bet I dug probably 20 different bullets and modern shotgun shells, I did find one lead bullet that I'm posting a picture of that looks possibly very old it has 3 rings around it and I would appreciate any help in identifying it. I'm not sure on the caliber and its a little misshapen but it measures roughly 7/16" diameter and was probably about 3/4" in length.
The second 2 pictures are what I would call my first real good find out here. It's a flat button in very good shape, appears to be copper with a mostly worn off gold plating. I was very careful cleaning it when I got home and could make out some back markings that say "DOUBLE GILT" with a leaf/floral type design below with what appears to be a "Z" or an "N" in the middle. The quick research I did shows its probably an early 1800's flat button of European origin. The front of the button looks like it did have markings but I cant make it out. I also found a nice old reigns guide that I forgot to get a picture of but will later.
Thanks for looking, will update with new pics and stories after every successful hunt!
topconsurveyor
Upvote
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