7-29 Pit Dig

[Jim]

Gene and I dug a stone liner at an 1860 house today. The pit was very wide, but only about 7 feet deep. It had certainly seen some dipping at some point, but it produced some nice stoneware and a very rare local druggist bottle that I had never heard of before.

 

[Jim]

The house has been beatifully restored by its owner, who saved it from demolition a few years ago. I like to see this happen, they don't build them like this anymore.

 

[Jim]

Four good pieces of stoneware came from this pit! A canning crock, a decorated saltglaze crock, a redware crock and a killer yellowware chamber pot that was perfect.

 

[richf]

They did do a nice job on the house ... the metal roof will last a lot longer than shingles, that's for sure. And, it gives it a decent look!
Rich

 

[Jim]

Here is the full haul on site. The owner of the house is one of the nicest guys I have ever met. That makes the dig even more fun.

 

[richf]

It always helps when the homeowner is decent! And, I see you were in the clay pipe era ... always a good sign.
Rich

 

[Jim]

Thanks, Rich. I liked the metal roof as well. With green being my favorite color, it made it all the better []. Here is a very rare (most likely unique) local druggist bottle, MUSSER'S PHARMACY LEWISTOWN. Definitely at least 10-15 years older than my other local druggists, and it cleaned up great.

 

[zanes_antiques]

Ok, so maybe I would like to get back into an 1850's-70's pit!

Congrats!

 

[richf]

You seem to hit a lot of good holes in Central PA. I'm in eastern, and it's been hit pretty hard around here, but there's still a lot of good digging left ... if permission can be obtained!
Rich

 

[Jim]

This was sad to see, but it's a worthwhile glueback project. What would have been a KILLER nursery rhyme plate. Very cool.