First good "dig" in Columbus! Got my first intact Congress Saratoga, and 2 hutches, Yay!

Welcome to our Antique Bottle community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Plumbata

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2007
Messages
2,732
Reaction score
47
Points
48
Location
Peoria Co.
After many hours of hiking around a good number of inhospitable locations in the Columbus, OH area, I finally found what seems to be an old un-dug ash and bottle dump! I've spent many days worth of hours scouring the county for worthy spots over the past few years, but have never found any deposits large enough or old enough to get excited about... Until now! Thanks to my totem animal "The Groundhog", right before heading for the long hike back to the car (the gal is ill and needed me to get some Vick's) I managed to spot what looked darn well like a hutch sitting on the surface of the ground a little ways ahead. It was a strange, but auspicious and completely welcome sight! I forgot about my sickly gal for the time being (hehe, sorry babe) and went to investigate. Booyah! A complete "P. Schille Columbus, O." hutch. Even a non-local knows that they are common, but I won't complain! I began scouring up down left and right and saw other groundhog diggings with shards, old pottery, and plenty of ash clinkers all throughout the place. Woohoo, that's what I like to see! I managed to grab from the piles a Sharp & Dohme Baltimore" rectangular med and a nice cylindrical "Dr August Koenig's Hamburger Tropfen". With only light "exploratory" tools on me I had neither proper diggers nor time to sink a hole (let alone an ideal monster pit), but I did manage to tease out my first intact "Congress & Empire Spring Co. Saratoga, NY" water bottle! I also got a nice hutch from "Grant & Upton Columbus, Ohio" with monogram on back. I had hit ash less than a foot down so hopefully this place will provide lots of easy, high quality digging! Judging from the remoteness of the dump, plus the difficulty of access and a few other physical/environmental features I'd rather not reveal, I have reason to believe that it is un-dug, that it covers much ground, and is solid BIM. Broken blobs, meds, wax-sealer jars, and other good signs (and no crowns of any type, yet anyway) have me very pleased with the discovery. Even without leaf cover I am perfectly hidden, and when things do leaf-out I doubt anyone would ever find me there, even if I was dead and there was a statewide manhunt going on. Perfect place to sink big pits and do some seriously messy digging! [:D] 'Bout damn time I found a TOC (or older) dump in the Columbus area that hasn't already been pounded. [8D]
1972319_10103533397664570_850057867_n.jpg
1534340_10103533397619660_1993528391_n.jpg
Now I gotta get back there with all my actually useful diggin' gear and start tearing it to shreds! [:)] Good luck everybody!
 

LC

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2007
Messages
4,591
Reaction score
15
Points
38
Location
Ohio
Congrats on your find , those Congress bottles are nice . I have two of the same you have except that one has a large C in the center and the other has a small C . Always nice to see someone hit TOC and older , good luck with future digging .
 

Plumbata

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2007
Messages
2,732
Reaction score
47
Points
48
Location
Peoria Co.
Thanks everyone, I had been getting frustrated with my inability to find a good dig spot here. With a huge population and plenty of history I thought it would be easier. Sooner or later hiking around will pay off though. I dunno what variety of Congress water it is, probably the most common, but my gal took a shine to it so now it is in her possession, heh. She was a bit annoyed that I stayed out so late when i was supposed to be getting the vick's, but when I returned with the medicine as well as the pretty bottle she understood the situation, lol. I plan to return sometime this week. Hopefully the groundhogs were just tunneling through the tip of the iceberg and there is a trove of 19th century goodies to be had, but who knows. Only triangulation via several exploratory test holes will illuminate the situation underground there.
 

toddrandolph

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2010
Messages
403
Reaction score
13
Points
18
Location
Randolph, Ohio (near Akron)
An undug dump like that in Ohio is a VERY rare find. I don't have much experience with the Columbus area, but I have been through most of the undeveloped land and stream valleys between Akron and Cleveland including normally inaccessible areas (through work) and have never come across something like that. Looking forward to see what you find.
 

Dugout

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2008
Messages
4,346
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Well, I hope your hidey hole spills out many years for you. It would be great to have that spot all to yourself until it is totally dug out. Congratulations on the find and keep us up on the produce.
 

2find4me

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2012
Messages
1,740
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Wish I could find a TOC dump like that, keep up the great finds!!!
 

Members online

Latest threads

Forum statistics

Threads
83,216
Messages
742,899
Members
24,229
Latest member
TracyPecora
Top