Hello everyone! Many of these bottles have found their way onto other threads and posts here, but I figured it would be easiest to make one big thread and continually update it as I plan on visiting this site A LOT throughout the course of this year! This particular site holds two dumps - one large former town dump (like 2-3 acres), and a much smaller late 20s-30s dump in the river bank, but are easily within walking distance of each other and I often visit both during the same day if the weather and river levels allow.
A bit more background: I've been able to date the town dump to the post-WWII years (~1947) until about 1962-65, when the dump was capped with fill (rocks, concrete, bricks, etc.) and then a layer of soil over the top. The area is rather hilly, with many valleys leading down towards the river. Often they would back right up to the edge and dump, and when the piles got too large they would burn them to remove the wood, paper, etc. There are thousands of intact and broken bottles scattered throughout the area, and many from this dump have heavy rust staining and some are melted/damaged from the heat of the fires.
The older dump is located directly below where a bridge once stood to carry traffic over the river, with the abutments still standing along the higher banks. This particular river was once much wider and deeper (a dam downstream was removed in the late 90s/early 2000s), and the bridge across it was in a location slightly more upstream. The approach roads to this bridge were treacherous (steep downhill then uphill, with near-90 degree turns at the ends), and by the late 30s plans were in motion to replace it with a more modern bridge higher above the water line and without the treacherous approaches. WWII delayed the building, but by 1948 the new bridge was built and the one that stood previous demolished. The spot I've found the most bottles/metal items is directly below where the downstream edge of the bridge would have been.
Now onto the part that everyone wants to see - the bottles! I've tried to organize these as best I could, but I've taken hundreds of bottles from this site (and left at least 3x what i've taken!). These are all from last year - I've been twice to the more modern dump this year, but recent snowfall has sent me back inside. The river that the older dump is in isn't accessible due to high water levels in recent months.
I have cleaned up/closer up photos of most of these bottles, so if any are of particular interest let me know and I can show some more detailed photos. These are a mixed bag as I usually just take all the pictures once I'm home.
A bit more background: I've been able to date the town dump to the post-WWII years (~1947) until about 1962-65, when the dump was capped with fill (rocks, concrete, bricks, etc.) and then a layer of soil over the top. The area is rather hilly, with many valleys leading down towards the river. Often they would back right up to the edge and dump, and when the piles got too large they would burn them to remove the wood, paper, etc. There are thousands of intact and broken bottles scattered throughout the area, and many from this dump have heavy rust staining and some are melted/damaged from the heat of the fires.
The older dump is located directly below where a bridge once stood to carry traffic over the river, with the abutments still standing along the higher banks. This particular river was once much wider and deeper (a dam downstream was removed in the late 90s/early 2000s), and the bridge across it was in a location slightly more upstream. The approach roads to this bridge were treacherous (steep downhill then uphill, with near-90 degree turns at the ends), and by the late 30s plans were in motion to replace it with a more modern bridge higher above the water line and without the treacherous approaches. WWII delayed the building, but by 1948 the new bridge was built and the one that stood previous demolished. The spot I've found the most bottles/metal items is directly below where the downstream edge of the bridge would have been.
Now onto the part that everyone wants to see - the bottles! I've tried to organize these as best I could, but I've taken hundreds of bottles from this site (and left at least 3x what i've taken!). These are all from last year - I've been twice to the more modern dump this year, but recent snowfall has sent me back inside. The river that the older dump is in isn't accessible due to high water levels in recent months.
I have cleaned up/closer up photos of most of these bottles, so if any are of particular interest let me know and I can show some more detailed photos. These are a mixed bag as I usually just take all the pictures once I'm home.
