Introduction and Question

[DIGGINDAVE]

Hi guys, new to the site, but it looks GREAT and i've been reading all the posts i can. I have been a metal detector for years, and recently got into bottles, and oh I got the bug. Dug some nice ones this summer, and am trying to learn all I can.

Quick question, there's an old textile mill in my town that once housed thousands of workers from 1820-2880. The mill race is lined by ten foot high rock walls, and cuts right through the woods and is now all dried up. I dug down about a foot or two in some places but didn't see any traces of anything good. Did they ever dump bottles in mill races? Any tips for this type of situation??

 

[phil44]

go to the end of of the run and look for shardage

 

[cc6pack]

Dave welcome to the forum, to answer your question in my experience anywhere there's water people will throw stuff. I've dove rivers, lakes, oceans and recovered everything from bodies, safes, jewelery, guns, and just plain garbage, not to mention a few bottles. If what you're digging is the bottom of the mill pond there is probably several feet of silt to dig through. Feel free to post pic or questions you have very helpful folks around here. Again welcome

 

[DIGGINDAVE]

thank you for the nice welcome.

It's not the mill pond, it's a channel leading off of the mill pond that fed the water wheel of the mill. the channel is about 10 feet wide, flanked by 10 foot crude stone walls. the water has since dried up. The soil is very sandy and rocky. should i be looking for the layer when it starts to transition to more of a soil u think?

 

[tigue710]

your wasting your time in the mill race... there is an off chance you will find a random bottle, but most likely only stuff from after the mill closed. They were very wary about throwing anything in the race because it could could crud up the the water wheels or turbines...

 

[GuntherHess]

I can think of a series of videos about a huge dig inside a filled in mill race. I'm sure everyone remembers those
But I consider that more the exception than the rule.
I would put mill races in the same boat as water wells. They are interesting but not high on the dig list.