Updated 8/29 - Ghost town first-time hunt

[Staci (Fargo ND)]

Found this town last year but wasn't able to hunt...finally got out there with my dad yesterday! The town was once quite large, and was founded in the late 1880's in antipation of the railroad coming through. I could not find any population numbers past the early 1900's, but at that time there were more than 160 residents.

The city was deserted at some point when the rr didn't come, and was re-inhabited in the 50's or 60's (my guess based on the two "newer" houses). The only buildings left standing are two houses built later, and many stone foundations.

This is the town, I'll post pics of the finds in a few minutes. It was a little tough hunting with all the brush

 

[Golden1]

Re: Ghost town first-time hunt

Wow!!! nice finds
Keep swinging!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[U.P. Northwoods]

Re: Ghost town first-time hunt

Great looking site for swinging. Congrats on finding that Gtown the coin and relics. There's lots more where that cam from for sure!

 

[TerryC]

Re: Ghost town first-time hunt

Staci,
The long metal "thingie" near the end of your post is the inside of a harmonica. I own and play several. Looks to be all the reeds are broke off. Ummmm. I wonder if Hohner would honer this lifetime warranty.... Nice finds! WTG. One of my metal detecting tools is a weed whacker! Your site needs one!!!! Good site. TTC

 

[Staci (Fargo ND)]

Re: Ghost town first-time hunt

Thanks for all the input! I think I'll have to go out there in a couple weeks again and take the weed wacker...knowing what this stuff is, that it isn't a bunch of recent junk, makes it much more exciting!

Hopefully our electric weed cutter can hold up to that stuff. Might take a branch cutter and the manual swing grass cutter too just in case.

 

[X-Terra70_TreasureHunter]

Re: Ghost town first-time hunt

hea Stacie you need to haul a weed eatter & a lawn mower over there and do a little clean up
then you can have some really good fun. Makes it a lot easier to dig up stuff.

Dave

 

[bazinga]

Re: Ghost town first-time hunt

hea Stacie you need to haul a weed eatter & a lawn mower over there and do a little clean up
then you can have some really good fun. Makes it a lot easier to dig up stuff.

Dave

Haha, no, she makes DAD haul it over there and relaxes while he cuts it and she detects behind him.

 

[Michiganne]

Re: Ghost town first-time hunt

Wow, a cool place to swing, Stacie. Great coin and relics. Can't wait to see what else you can pull out of there. Nice pics, too.

Keep digging!

 

[MrBling]

Re: Ghost town first-time hunt

That's a fantastic looking site.
I'd be all over it with every spare minute I had
That's definitely a hitching post ring-nice find!
I've found two of them recently myself
Keep everything that looks like it might be "something", you can always get help to id it later
Good luck!

 

[windrun]

Re: Ghost town first-time hunt

Wow, that is very good for you to find a ghost town! Be careful, there are some snakes or small animal. Yes, you are right that hard time for thick brush or tall grass, cause hard to use the metal detector to close the ground.

If I were you, I would go back there during February or March, that ground will be little soft from melt snow and dead grass as short, much easier to use the metal detector close the ground, but you live in North Dakota....I live in Kansas and I always to go to some old houses or school buildings during Feb or Mar which all grass were short or not gowning green yet, easy to walk on the ground than wait till April or May or June, it will be hard to walk with thick grass, snakes around by and bite you, etc.

Keep up good hunting when you come back there!

Richard

 

[NGE]

Re: Ghost town first-time hunt

Love the capgun, it's a S&W snub nosed .38, the barrel is not broken off, they were that short. Not very accurate at long distance, but could make big hole in ya, Looks like a fun site, I have in the past gone into some wooded areas and sprayed Ortho Weed -B-Gone on the weeds and come back in a couple weeks to grass dying and weeds gone. Alot easier than ruining your weed whacker......... Not GE

 

[jeff of pa]

Re: Ghost town first-time hunt

Nice site & Finds.

Looks like a spring hunt is in order.

 

[TimC (North Alabama)]

Re: Ghost town first-time hunt

I only have one thought "outstanding. "

 

[Staci (Fargo ND)]

Re: Ghost town first-time hunt

Hmm good idea, make Dad do the work while I detect behind! Lol nah we start on the edges and work our way in together and even sweep over eachother's spots.

My detector is good at IDing aluminum while his is good at letting us know if it's a chunk of iron instead of what mine says: "dollar coin" but I think we'll be digging everything up in this place.

If I put down some weed killer, wouldn't it mess with the PH balance in the ground and make it more acidic...ruining finds possibly? I'm not sure, just came to mind.

I'll post a few pics of this town in it's heyday in a minute here...did some more research last night.

 

[pookie-princess of rust]

Re: Ghost town first-time hunt

cool finds

 

[NGE]

Re: Ghost town first-time hunt

Staci, the product that I mentioned is mixed in water, I think the mixture is 3 TBS. product to 5 gals. water. I use one of those pump it up yourself chemical applicator's. I don't believe, it will mess up coins in the ground, because this stuff works from the leaves down to the roots. All you need is a couple days of sunshine and a couple weeks and most should be down. There is another product that works the same way, but it will sterilize the soil for a whole year and nothing will grow, not even grass, it is also made by Ortho, it is called Tri-Ox vegetation killer. I use it for edging along my fenceline, between the cracks in my sidewalks, anywhere you don't want to have to trim. Have never tried it on my head though . I AM NOT A DISTRIBUTOR, NOR DO I SELL THIS STUFF! THERE ARE MANY OTHER BRANDS OUT THERE, BUT THIS IS THE ONE I HAVE THE BEST LUCK WITH.......Not GE

 

[Staci (Fargo ND)]

Re: Ghost town first-time hunt

Pics of the town:

 

[mpostma]

Re: Ghost town first-time hunt

Wow Staci,
What a great place to hunt! Thank you for sharing the photos and info. Enjoy the ghost town! Please keep us up to date!

 

[Born Free]

Re: Ghost town first-time hunt

A TREASURE MAP! How cool is that, and it's already gridded for searching. Looks like alot of area, you might need some help, do we have any volunteers to help search this property?? ( ;

RoundUp is harmless to the soil. After a few days, it is completely harmless to plants or animals. It kills the plant down to the root, then when you mow it won't come back.

Your Dad fits right into that shrine...

 

[NGE]

Re: Ghost town first-time hunt

WOWSER! are the ponds dried up? If so I'd start there, I'll bet everyone in town swam in them at one time or another. I love hunting ponds when they are dried up.

 

[prolab69]

Re: Ghost town first-time hunt

Yeah, the ponds may be a good bet, but id start at the baseball diamond. Kids playing ball lose a lot of items!! games most likely braught family gatherings and spectaters. Look for the paths and bleacher areas if there were any. Parks where kids play have been very productive for me. And search around all the big trees in that area also where people may have sat in the shade.
Good luck!
Pro-