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Rolla, Missouri Hunt
mr3holesinone
Posts: 444
I used the Sanborn Insurance Maps to try to locate the oldest area of Rolla, Missouri. I was going to have a few free hours after a golf tournament and didn't want to spend the time huddled in a dark, smoky tavern. (Did that Friday night, lol.)
The sites I found were mostly paved over with little green areas to detect. I did find a few areas and hit them. I first went out of town and hit an old church from 1848. It said it was the oldest Baptist church in Phelps county. The weeds show that it isn't the best taken care of. A dead carcass of what was maybe a coyote(?) kind of spooked me as I had my head down and was scanning straight ahead and didn't see it until I almost had my coil over it. It had been there a few weeks so it was down to bones and fur.... no coins.
The church was a few miles out of town so I headed back towards the oldest part of downtown Rolla. The original Court House from the 1840s was my next target. There was quite a bit of open space to search. I went over it pretty good and didn't get a good target to dig anywhere. Across the parking lot from the Court House is an old log cabin that is the home of the County Museum. The grassy area around it wasn't too large. Most of it had been paved over that could have been a good spot. Around back and to the side was open so I hit that too. There were historical markers for a walking trail along the sidewalk so I knew it was an old area. Along a landscaped hill I finally found a quarter that had been hit by a lawnmower, lol, but at least I wasn't totally shutout now.
Next I hit an area next to where the Public School had been located at the turn of the century. Well, a video store now occupies the site that I wanted to hunt. The lot east of it was a huge open space that I tried next. The maps showed that buildings sat there years ago so I hunted where I thought the grassy areas would have been. No luck at all...bummer.
I headed towards the college campus and an area where a few old churches had been in the 1890s. They are still there and bigger than ever, lol. They take up the whole plot now. I did see a parking lot with what appeared to be some new construction taking place. Nothing like hunting where they are digging up the past for you. The strips along the sidewalk were bare dirt and a few new(?) parking meters were there. I searched around them and found about a dollar in loose change but nothing good. Good to me is either old or silver, and preferably both.
I still had a couple hours left and went to the University of Missouri at Rolla campus next. The night before I had met a guy at the bar who worked at the UMR library and taught some classes there. He didn't think it would be an issue hunting there so I went for it. I ended up seeing three different security guards and never was bothered by them. The Mathematics Building is the oldest building on campus from about the mid-1850s. It even looks old with a stone foundation. The Quadrangle area has a huge, open grassy area to detect (or lay around and study while you're waiting for your next class). I couldn't find any good targets near this building so I went over to some of the other buildings to try my luck.
There was another building that looked just as old so I searched there for a while. I started getting some good targets to dig too. Five to seven inches deep. I should mention that the turf of this lawn is nice and thick and well groomed. You would NOT want to go digging and leaving your holes unfilled, as if anyone does that, I sure hope not. Anyway, it was so HARD to dig through the turf to even get a plug started. I had a few targets where I would get my plug started and have to rest and start again... It was very, very tough to get your target out of the ground. So....five inches, seven inches, old, old college lawn. Should be silver, right? Should be Indian or Wheat at the worst, right? Wrong. Nothing but clad quarters and dimes.
I really had my hopes up this one time. I was getting a solid target that was reading Quarter and it was at 7" deep. I kept on digging and was down to at least nine inches. The target moved just barely from my pinpointed spot but not enough to worry me. I was about to fill the hole back in when I saw that it was indeed a quarter but it was on its side standing straight up and down and not flat like you find 98% of the coins. Imagine my astonishment when I first of all see that it's not silver and secondly find out that it's dated 1986.
My guess is that over the years either new dirt has been brought in to level out the campus--it's very flat terrain; or that maybe the healthiness of the grass adds depth each passing year. I know there are coins there and I know there are old coins there. Maybe with more time they can be found but its just so hard to dig down into that grass... and for clads.
Has anyone else experienced locations like this where you know there is the possibility of old coins but the results don't add up to what you expect? Any suggestions for coping with tough turf? I loved the sites I was able to detect at but the results leave me wanting more...
The sites I found were mostly paved over with little green areas to detect. I did find a few areas and hit them. I first went out of town and hit an old church from 1848. It said it was the oldest Baptist church in Phelps county. The weeds show that it isn't the best taken care of. A dead carcass of what was maybe a coyote(?) kind of spooked me as I had my head down and was scanning straight ahead and didn't see it until I almost had my coil over it. It had been there a few weeks so it was down to bones and fur.... no coins.
The church was a few miles out of town so I headed back towards the oldest part of downtown Rolla. The original Court House from the 1840s was my next target. There was quite a bit of open space to search. I went over it pretty good and didn't get a good target to dig anywhere. Across the parking lot from the Court House is an old log cabin that is the home of the County Museum. The grassy area around it wasn't too large. Most of it had been paved over that could have been a good spot. Around back and to the side was open so I hit that too. There were historical markers for a walking trail along the sidewalk so I knew it was an old area. Along a landscaped hill I finally found a quarter that had been hit by a lawnmower, lol, but at least I wasn't totally shutout now.
Next I hit an area next to where the Public School had been located at the turn of the century. Well, a video store now occupies the site that I wanted to hunt. The lot east of it was a huge open space that I tried next. The maps showed that buildings sat there years ago so I hunted where I thought the grassy areas would have been. No luck at all...bummer.
I headed towards the college campus and an area where a few old churches had been in the 1890s. They are still there and bigger than ever, lol. They take up the whole plot now. I did see a parking lot with what appeared to be some new construction taking place. Nothing like hunting where they are digging up the past for you. The strips along the sidewalk were bare dirt and a few new(?) parking meters were there. I searched around them and found about a dollar in loose change but nothing good. Good to me is either old or silver, and preferably both.
I still had a couple hours left and went to the University of Missouri at Rolla campus next. The night before I had met a guy at the bar who worked at the UMR library and taught some classes there. He didn't think it would be an issue hunting there so I went for it. I ended up seeing three different security guards and never was bothered by them. The Mathematics Building is the oldest building on campus from about the mid-1850s. It even looks old with a stone foundation. The Quadrangle area has a huge, open grassy area to detect (or lay around and study while you're waiting for your next class). I couldn't find any good targets near this building so I went over to some of the other buildings to try my luck.
There was another building that looked just as old so I searched there for a while. I started getting some good targets to dig too. Five to seven inches deep. I should mention that the turf of this lawn is nice and thick and well groomed. You would NOT want to go digging and leaving your holes unfilled, as if anyone does that, I sure hope not. Anyway, it was so HARD to dig through the turf to even get a plug started. I had a few targets where I would get my plug started and have to rest and start again... It was very, very tough to get your target out of the ground. So....five inches, seven inches, old, old college lawn. Should be silver, right? Should be Indian or Wheat at the worst, right? Wrong. Nothing but clad quarters and dimes.
I really had my hopes up this one time. I was getting a solid target that was reading Quarter and it was at 7" deep. I kept on digging and was down to at least nine inches. The target moved just barely from my pinpointed spot but not enough to worry me. I was about to fill the hole back in when I saw that it was indeed a quarter but it was on its side standing straight up and down and not flat like you find 98% of the coins. Imagine my astonishment when I first of all see that it's not silver and secondly find out that it's dated 1986.
My guess is that over the years either new dirt has been brought in to level out the campus--it's very flat terrain; or that maybe the healthiness of the grass adds depth each passing year. I know there are coins there and I know there are old coins there. Maybe with more time they can be found but its just so hard to dig down into that grass... and for clads.
Has anyone else experienced locations like this where you know there is the possibility of old coins but the results don't add up to what you expect? Any suggestions for coping with tough turf? I loved the sites I was able to detect at but the results leave me wanting more...
Holes-in-One
1. 7-17-81 Warrenton GC Driver 310 yards 7th Hole (Par 4)
2. 5-22-99 Warrenton GC 6 iron 189 yards 10th Hole
3. 7-23-99 Oak Meadow CC 5 iron 180 yards 17th Hole
4. 9-19-99 Country Lake GC 6 iron 164 yards 15th Hole
5. 8-30-09 Country Lake GC Driver 258 yards 17th Hole (Par 4)
Collector of Barber Halves, Commems, MS64FBL Frankies, Full Step Jeffersons & Mint state Washington Quarters
1. 7-17-81 Warrenton GC Driver 310 yards 7th Hole (Par 4)
2. 5-22-99 Warrenton GC 6 iron 189 yards 10th Hole
3. 7-23-99 Oak Meadow CC 5 iron 180 yards 17th Hole
4. 9-19-99 Country Lake GC 6 iron 164 yards 15th Hole
5. 8-30-09 Country Lake GC Driver 258 yards 17th Hole (Par 4)
Collector of Barber Halves, Commems, MS64FBL Frankies, Full Step Jeffersons & Mint state Washington Quarters
0
Comments
don't forget to follow through....if ya wanna play a nassau ? i need strokes...hee hee hee!