Whites Mill

[Mr.Jody]

Anyone know what road this is on in Florence Alabama?I cant seem to find it anywhere...

 

[dnewbury2]

I know of a place called Sharp's Mill. The dam for the old mill, now gone, forms White's Lake on Cypress Creek north of Florence. I can't think of the county road number. I think this is the place you are talking about. If I can find my county highway map I'll tell you the road number.

 

[Mr.Jody]

Please do! I sure thought it was called the 'White's Mill"..?Am I wrong about that?Maybe thats why I keep going down dead ends..??

 

[Mr.Jody]

Is the mill still standing?What is the area like now around it?

 

[DiggerBug]

http://www.geocities.com/nationaltreasuresonline/Alabama
National Treasures Online
Treasure By State: Alabama
*C.E. Sharps: Once a wealthy mill owner in Alabama. In 1897, he purchased the old White's Mill located 6 miles Northwest of Florence and accumulated a vast fortune in gold coins. He is known to have buried a large sum of money somewhere in the woods south of the mill among the trees. He drowned in 1899 and the exact location of his secret cache of gold coins went to the grave.

 

[Mr.Jody]

thanks for the link, But I have that one
I finally found a good pic of the area... ALOT of stuff has changed up there.

 

[Mr.Jody]

Well, i did manage to find "his" original home!!...

 

[CaptJohn]

How was the neighorhood, vacant or developed? Was the ole mill site close by?

 

[Mr.Jody]

Its actually sitting on some land owned by someone capn'

 

[joey4u8]

Whites mill is easy to find if anyone wants to know where its at by the way id like to get a few people together that know how to metal detect and see if we might find this hidden treasure!!!!! any ideas?

 

[Mr.Jody]

Hey Joey... In my opinion, A MD wont do you much good......it might, and I'm sure it wont hurt to take one.....keep your eyes "UP"

I used to have it saved on my other computer of where the original cabin is now, who owned and and so on....thats not where you need to be looking though...

 

[joey4u8]

Hey Joey... In my opinion, A MD wont do you much good......it might, and I'm sure it wont hurt to take one.....keep your eyes "UP"

I used to have it saved on my other computer of where the original cabin is now, who owned and and so on....thats not where you need to be looking though...

Are you sure because everything ive read describes the treasure being buried across from the mill in the woods and im curious as to why you think a metal detector wouldnt work because it always says that he took a shovel with him to bury it so surely a MD would pick it up? It never said anything about a cabin or anything it said the mill itsself? just curious to what you mean? because there are other places in florence where this guy has a business and where he buried his treasure

 

[jchart]

sorry to tell u this but land cannot be hunted. the area well protected by everyone. im only one that can sorry. took me a long time to get in there. and alot of money

thanks for the link, But I have that one
I finally found a good pic of the area... ALOT of stuff has changed up there.

 

[jchart]

wish i could bring some one but can only be by myself. dont believe its there. been hunting for a year now. found only few coins no gold or silver

 

[ZipCity]

wish i could bring some one but can only be by myself. dont believe its there. been hunting for a year now. found only few coins no gold or silver

I know this area pretty well. Life long resident. People are VERY protective of private land. Way more protective than federal government. Around here, you will not get a warning shot sometimes if you don't talk to the land owners. That being said, here is some useful information, Grady SHarp, book keeper and Nephew of CE, stated that CE would walk out into the woods and come back in about 30 minutes everytime he went to the woods with gold. Grady stated that CE only carried a burlap sack of coins ( NO SHOVEL OR DIGGING DEVICE). The average person can walk a mile in 15 minutes. He wasn't wet when he came back, so he didn't cross the creek where the mill was. So you have a mile radius starting at the Mill on one side of the creek. SO you have narrowed down your search area to 1.57 square miles. From there, look at old maps from the USGS and new maps from google earth/ sat. and you can isolate features in the land that have changed. The areas with a large change are not where to look( unless someone found it and isn't saying anything). I would also advise as a reminder, some kids found several gold coins valued at $5000 in 1942 ( about a 225 thousand in today's market) in an undisclosed location around this area in lauderdale county in 1942. This very well could have been the Sharp treasure. I would imagine a man in this area from 1897 would have had much greater wealth than what these boys found ( upwards of 20 thousand dollars worth in 1899 , about 15 million today). Most people didn't rely on banks around here until after WW1 when post war property loans were all the rage. Also, gold, silver, and livestock was used as farmer's currency often ( some old timers still trade gold and silver to this day for goods and services , although somewhat rare). CE worked mostly with farmers and was very very wealthy as this entire area had one main industry , farming. My ancestors brought corn to his mill to be ground. I am willing to bet the cache to be several 100 oz. of gold and silver. I am also willing to bet it isn't all in one place. Tree hollows, caves, large limestone rocks are all common in the area. Good Luck everyone, and please be respectful of the local land owners. God Bless your hunt!