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All Forums >> [Bottle Forums] >> Digging and Finding >> treasurehunts privy dig

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treasurehunts privy dig - 10/14/2003 8:48:48 PM    treasurehunt   Posts: 310 Joined: 10/14/2003 From: Dearborn, Michigan Status: offline I am new to privy digging, i've been looking for privy's all summer at old 1800's farm houses but have dad no luck. i"m using a 4 foot privy stick that i made, i have looked at 4 houses with no luck. any tips for looking in farm area's where it's hard to determine the property line of long ago. Post #: 1

RE: treasurehunts privy dig - 10/14/2003 9:24:31 PM    treasurehunt   Posts: 310 Joined: 10/14/2003 From: Dearborn, Michigan Status: offline also, i am going this weekend to privy dig at a 1857 one room school house that i was metal detecting at last year, the school was torn down last year. i have info about this school with pictures, one from 1893 and one from 1915 showing the location of one of the out houses, from the info a new block lined privy was built in 1945, then the school was not used after 1948. has anyone dug privy's at old school houses? what kind of stuff might come out of school house privy's? i dug a little last week finding the block lined privy, is it worth digging in it? it was about 5'w x 8'L. maybe they put the new outhouse over one of the very old ones? (in reply to treasurehunt) Post #: 2

RE: treasurehunts privy dig - 10/20/2003 9:12:42 PM    treasurehunt   Posts: 310 Joined: 10/14/2003 From: Dearborn, Michigan Status: offline went to my abandoned 1800's farm house (with stone foundation) and thought I found the privy when my privy stick went right in the ground down to 4' , but it was by many roots, so after digging down 4 or 5 foot there was no change in the ground, just soft ground near the roots. about 4 foot away there is area that is solid clay, do you think that area my be the privy, I tried digging there down about 2 foot but it was still just hard clay, It is about 60' from the house near one edge of the property line, the back yard goes back maybe 400' to a small river. (in reply to treasurehunt) Post #: 3

RE: treasurehunts privy dig - 10/20/2003 11:59:14 PM    oz-riley   Posts: 135 Joined: 11/24/2002 From: Melbourne, Australia. Status: offline I have a few probes of different lengths I use when looking for Cess pits or toilet holes (we don't call them privy holes here), also if you are on an old farm there could also be abandoned water well, it was not uncommon to fill old wells with rubbish if the water dried up. However not all wells produce bottle because some were still being used for water when the area was abandoned. I have a 4 foot probe and a 6 foot probe, if you are new to this type of digging it will take you a while to get a feel for the probe, what the ground should feel like when you have located a Cess pit, also more importantly to be able to identify if the hole has been dug at an earlier stage. Nothing worse that dropping a 10 foot hole only to find a plastic Coke bottle at the bottom. Also look at the tip of the probe when you pull it out of the ground when you think you have found a hole, the tip should have a bit of darker coloured dirt, this is due to waste matter breaking down and is usually darker than the surrounding earth. Don't be afraid to dig test holes if you are unsure if you have found a hole or not, I have spent a whole day digging just test holes on sites that have a lot or building rubble mixed into the ground because it is hard to tell if you are on a hole or not. Keep going you find bottle soon enough, it is a numbers game, the more dirt you move the more bottles you will find. Chris _____________________________ Please visit my Australian Antique Bottle Web Site 'The Aussie Bottle Digger' http://www.users.bigpond.com/oz-riley/ (in reply to treasurehunt) Post #: 4

RE: treasurehunts privy dig - 10/22/2003 6:37:08 AM    treasurehunt   Posts: 310 Joined: 10/14/2003 From: Dearborn, Michigan Status: offline ******still looking for my first privy****** last weekend i was in a smaller town that was formed about 1850 and was looking around town not far from the train station and spotted a corner lot that was empty. i got out and looked at it and saw a depression in the ground in back maybe 4' from the fence line, the depression went 6 to 8" deep.i checked with my privy stick and it went down about 1.5' in most places but in the depression it went all the way down to the handle - 4'- but did not hit anything. plan on going back there this weekend. has anyone dug at vacant lots before? how deep are these depressions everone is talking about? how deep in privys before you find stuff. thanx for all the info! (in reply to treasurehunt) Post #: 5

treasurehunts privy dig - 10/22/2003 11:34:25 AM    Flaschenjager Posts: 1141 Joined: 12/21/2002 From: Central Virginia - USA Status: offline Hi treasurehunt, A lot about privy digging has to do w/ the area you're at when looking. City and rural privy positioning was different at times. East coast, west and midwest have some differences. Many also say that there can be a privy for every ten years of use. Probing takes a bit to get use to also. Some privies have a fill layer that can be between 3 to 6 feet at times (hence a longer probe is needed to touch the use layer). There are many sites to learn from out there, on the specifics of privy digging and the tricks of those who do it often. Some are on my links page: http://members.aol.com/meechuta/links.html This Yahoo forum is for privy diggers: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/privydiggerpit/ Important: You must get permission to dig in most, if not all areas. Vacant lots are owned by someone (city, state, government, etc.). Also, do not dig alone! Cave-ins happen a lot. _____________________________ 'Meech' Our websites: http://mysite.verizon.net/flaschenjager/bottles.html Member of FOHBC - RABCA - APBCA Editor of 'The Digger' in full color! Please support the forums with a donation or purchase! (in reply to treasurehunt) Post #: 6

RE: treasurehunts privy dig - 10/23/2003 12:13:52 PM    treasurehunt   Posts: 310 Joined: 10/14/2003 From: Dearborn, Michigan Status: offline i went to my one room school house again. i probed and dug 3 or 4 test holes, then when probing about 2 or 3 feet deep i felt crunches in this one area so i dug another test hole, about 2 or 3 foot deep i started finding gray dirt along with glass pieces and rusty junk, i then opened up the hole to 5' x 5' and went down to about 4 to 5 foot finding big metal things, chalk pieces & all types of glass. the hole needs to be even larger since the gray matter and stuff keeps going out the sides, i then ran out of light and had to fill the hole back in untill next time. how large could the hole be? how deep could one room school house privy's be? how many privy's might there be at schools since the school started in 1857 ? should there be metal and old plastic in the fill layer? (in reply to treasurehunt) Post #: 7

RE: treasurehunts privy dig - 10/23/2003 12:55:24 PM    Guest the hole could large . after you get down 3-4 feet as you dig the sides look for traces of a wood box that will define the hole.. look for changes in soil as you widen the hole. dont dig outside the box. if you want to do this , do it after you have hit bottom and are done. deep ? all i can say is you will be done when you hit bottom. metal is not unusual but plastic should only be near the surface. if you find plastic deep ,than someone beat you to it. listen!! as you dig down keep your hole square and the sides straight . if you get deep have someone there incase you have a cave-in. and never,never undercut the sides. if you have to widen at the bottom take the whole side down starting at the top. diggerjeff (in reply to treasurehunt)   Post #: 8

RE: treasurehunts privy dig - 10/23/2003 9:46:13 PM    treasurehunt   Posts: 310 Joined: 10/14/2003 From: Dearborn, Michigan Status: offline when your hole gets deeper than 6 foot ---- how do you get out? (in reply to treasurehunt) Post #: 9

RE: treasurehunts privy dig - 10/26/2003 9:12:28 PM    treasurehunt   Posts: 310 Joined: 10/14/2003 From: Dearborn, Michigan Status: offline went to my small town empty lot and dug the pivy there. just my luck some one must of been there first and got all the good stuff from the privy. i did get 4 clear old bottles with no embossing from arount 1900, one old crock in peices that i will put back together, one hole small white cup with dogs and a bird, and maybe a good one a small small aqua bottle with embossing kemps couch balsam leroy n.y. o.f. woodward, directions on box. any body know about this little bottle? anyone ever find a small cup with hunting dogs and a bird? even though the privy was dug by someone else first it was still fun for my first older privy dig. i plan to go back sometime because i saw at least one more privy there. (in reply to treasurehunt) Post #: 10

RE: treasurehunts privy dig - 10/28/2003 3:17:46 PM    treasurehunt   Posts: 310 Joined: 10/14/2003 From: Dearborn, Michigan Status: offline does anyone have info on the sanborn fire maps from the 1800's for the michigan area to help locate privy's. where to get them, (on c.d.) or (a web site)? how much do they cost? does anybody use them? any help would be great! (in reply to treasurehunt) Post #: 11

Treasurehunts privy dig - 10/28/2003 3:25:48 PM    Flaschenjager Posts: 1141 Joined: 12/21/2002 From: Central Virginia - USA Status: offline Check your local library, and if it's a small library, check the nearest larger one. If they do not carry them they may direct you to where you can find them. They may be able to let you know over the phone. Most of the privies I've dug have been rural and these maps are only useful to me when I dig in the downtown areas. They are a great resource and a timesaver. _____________________________ 'Meech' Our websites: http://mysite.verizon.net/flaschenjager/bottles.html Member of FOHBC - RABCA - APBCA Editor of 'The Digger' in full color! Please support the forums with a donation or purchase! (in reply to treasurehunt) Post #: 12

RE: treasurehunts privy dig - 10/31/2003 6:14:13 AM    treasurehunt   Posts: 310 Joined: 10/14/2003 From: Dearborn, Michigan Status: offline went to my one room school house and that makes my privy record -- 0 for 2 -- dug down 4 or 5 foot and 5' x 5' across where my probe hit glass peices but all i got was a couple of small 1930's bottles with rusted lid's and broken doll parts. i can,t seem to find the old pit there. Is there any bottles still in the ground? (in reply to treasurehunt) Post #: 13

RE: treasurehunts privy dig - 10/31/2003 6:47:40 AM    treasurehunt   Posts: 310 Joined: 10/14/2003 From: Dearborn, Michigan Status: offline i got a hot tip from a guy at work that was out bike riding in the woods. he saw a possible privy - a depressed area with 3 old wood pieces sticking out on each side of the area next to a new bike path that was just made. i checked my 1872 map and there was some buildings in the area. would the wood still there if it was old? i hope to check it out this weekend. (in reply to treasurehunt) Post #: 14

RE: treasurehunts privy dig - 11/2/2003 9:43:40 AM    treasurehunt   Posts: 310 Joined: 10/14/2003 From: Dearborn, Michigan Status: offline finding a privy to dig is turning out to be harder than i thought! thats looking at six 1800's houses and finding only one privy, and that one was cleaned out before i got there. (in reply to treasurehunt) Post #: 15

RE: treasurehunts privy dig - 11/3/2003 2:01:00 AM    IRISH   Posts: 1238 Joined: 11/23/2002 From: cockatoo Australia Status: offline Keep on looking you will find them, it takes experiance to find them consistantly (even when you have been probing for year's its still hard on some sites) stick at it and you will find a good one soon . (in reply to treasurehunt) Post #: 16

RE: treasurehunts privy dig - 11/6/2003 9:01:49 PM    treasurehunt   Posts: 310 Joined: 10/14/2003 From: Dearborn, Michigan Status: offline i stoped by a old abandoned house 1890 to 1910 in a old city and near the back fence corner there was a depression about 4' x 4', i probed and the probe went all the way down to the handle, but i had trouble finding the exact size to dig the pit. how do you know how big to start your hole? i plan on going back soon. (in reply to treasurehunt) Post #: 17

RE: treasurehunts privy dig - 11/6/2003 9:13:22 PM    Guest when you go back do this. probe in 4 directions away from the spot . pushing straight down, almost to the handle .do this about every 6 - 8 inches away from center .you will feel the ground get hard again . mark were it gets hard on all 4 sides and dig within those 4 points. this should get you close in size. diggerjeff (in reply to treasurehunt)   Post #: 18

RE: treasurehunts privy dig - 11/7/2003 8:24:30 AM    treasurehunt   Posts: 310 Joined: 10/14/2003 From: Dearborn, Michigan Status: offline when you go to ask a home owner for permision to dig. what do you say to them? (in reply to treasurehunt) Post #: 19

RE: treasurehunts privy dig - 11/21/2003 12:13:28 PM    treasurehunt   Posts: 310 Joined: 10/14/2003 From: Dearborn, Michigan Status: offline went on a privy search yesterday and found some hot places to go. one was a 1800's abandoned house in a ghost town -- i think i found the privy's in the back corner of the yard, will have to hit this next weekend! also found a great area to go, my 1859 map shows 16 house at this intersection, and 1875 map shows 21 houses, now there are only 3 run down houses with the rest being empty lots. i did find out that this area is to be developed next year sometime. --- lot of diging to do --- (in reply to treasurehunt) Post #: 20

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