So... finding old homes...

30AnvZ28

So all of you know me, and where I usually lurk around here in SC, North Coastal GA.

Basically, im in a prime spot for hunting grounds... age and location speaking.

I have tried pretty much everything, and have a couple "iffy" grounds for hunting. What I mean by "iffy" are that they are open to the public, there are no rules against metal detecting..., and I have direct permission to be on the property (even though its open to the public, I received permission from the grounds keeper to be there), but not to specifically detect.


I also have a ton of woods, and back water around me, but looking at old maps usually doesnt net anything. The obvious killer spots are all off limits (Savannah squares, old forts, ect). There is one place that has been "reported" to turn up things in the past... an old fort that was about 300 yds from the beach. At low tide you can supposedly find artificats... but let me tell you, I have stripped that beach, and local grounds, and didnt find crap.

There is so much water and woods, and my location is so prime, that I know stuff is here... and Im willing to go stamping through the woods if thats what it takes... but how can I tell in the middle of the woods if there "used to be" a house there.

Im tired of being in the prime area... and not finding crap. The only thing decent I have ever found, was my first find (other then about 50c in change) and was out with LM.

I need some tips to finding some decent areas around here. And it isnt that I havent tried... Ive tried too much and have gotten frustrated. If I were home in Ohio, I would be in there... as growing up as a kid, I can specifically tell you where fallen houses are in the woods... that have been untouched forever... but I cant do that here.

DesertRat

One thing to look for when hunting for ruins of old buildings is any irregularity in the surround ground that is geometric in nature such a long straight rise in the ground might indicate the remnants of a stone wall and pay attention to any right angles, even a slight depression or rise in the ground that contains any angles would be indicative of where a building or root cellar may have been. Circular formations could be campfire rings or old wells etc..

As you move through the land, look at the majority of the terrain, if (other than trees and vegetation) the ground is relatively flat and you see a noticeable increase in height in one spot that stands out, it could indicate an old chimney or hearth. With that in mind, also look at the terrain and if it is rocky and uneven, look for areas cleared of rocks that may indicate where land was cleared for a field or garden. If the woods are old growth, then look at the size of the trees overall and see if you can find any areas where the trees are noticeably younger.

That's what I would look for, things that don't fit in with the rest of the surrounding landscape and that appear to be purely random.

lordmarcovan

In the Lowcountry, as we are, anything that is high ground near a navigable river is worth looking at it.

I usually find my long-vanished homesites by walking "nekkid dirt" (cleared areas that are freshly bulldozed) and looking for concentrations of oystershell first, then old pottery and glass. You got to experience two such sites with me. Neither one panned out, but that's the way they go. Sometimes you score, often you don't.

I urge you to persist, because you're in a prime spot for history, as I've said before. One of these days you are gonna stumble across some cleared spot or place in the woods and start popping up stuff that will really get you fired up.

lordmarcovan

Just a random second thought... perhaps you should cut your teeth on more urban coinshooting before going into rural relic hunting. I say this because you're likely to get more coins in parks and along sidewalk strips and places like that, and once you have some Mercury dimes and silver Roosies in the bag to whet your appetite, then you can go after bigger game. First, go to the areas where old houses are still standing- those older Victorian neighborhoods. If you can get permission in some of those yards, fantastic- you might need to go no farther than that to bag some cool old coins. But even in the public parts of such neighborhoods, you're likely to find silver if you give it long enough.

At the very least, it's good practice.

Then when you're ready for Civil War relics, large cents, and Spanish silver, you can start looking for long-disappeared homesites and plantations, etc. These sites are more elusive, and they pay off much less often. They can be frustrating. However, when they DO pay off, they pay off big, in terms of goodies. Maybe not in terms of monetarily valuable stuff, but that's a possibility. But you have to be the first on the scene to get the large cents and King George coppers. They are big, relatively hot targets. This is why most are found on rural relic hunting sites instead of in towns (unless you're fortunate enough to find a small town somewhere that has been underexploited by detectorists).

Rural relic hunting sites have longer odds- they're harder to find and usually more sparsely scattered with targets. They're a game for the patient. Work on getting some more "modern" silver first (by that, I mean Mercs and Barbers and such), in town. But keep your eyes open for nekkid dirt where they've cleared timber or brush or are building or demolishing stuff.

If you simply must go crashing around in the woods, try looking at some old maps and imagining where the old homesites are likely to be. Start out in All Metal mode and dig everything. This will give you an idea of the time period of your site. You are likely to dig shotgun shells and beer cans anywhere, but if you start digging old square-headed nails, you know you are coming up on an older site. Then you can start using some discrimination when the nail signals get more tightly clustered and become bothersome. But the less discrimination you use and the more you dig, the better your odds will be.

Many of the early homesites I have found were stumbled across by accident, with few visual clues that anything had ever stood there- nothing on a map, no ruins, and sometimes no oystershell or pottery in the dirt. Visual clues like old pottery and glass won't be of any help to you if you're in the woods, anyway, since they'll be buried instead of on top, like they'd be on a nekkid dirt site. Sometimes just creeping along with the detector on All Metal, in an otherwise sparsely-targeted area will enable you to find a homesite by scattered nails and such. But it's hard work. I recommend you get some more detecting time done in town, first.