RIBottleguy
Well-Known Member
I haven't made a post recently due to limited internet access, but this story is well-worth telling. In a local mill town the DEM decided to remove an old dam to help out the fish and such. I had almost forgot about it until four days ago when I excitedly went down to see what was happening. They had installed two temporary stone (large rock-sized) dams above and below the dam, so part of the river was almost dry. It was very tempting but I knew I would not be allowed access. I then noticed that above the last dam the river was about 6 feet lower than usual thanks to their pump. I scouted up the river and came across a very promising spot.
It was a bottleneck (no pun intended) that trapped a bunch of bottles. The bedrock formed a nice V and trapped a lot of what went through it. There were bottles everywhere. I just started to pick them up off the surface! Many were junk ABM, but there were plenty of BIM stuff too. I found a bunch of local crown top sodas, a lot of clear slick medicines etc. etc. My first good find was a rare local druggist from Wickford, RI. I then found an unlisted whiskey half pint from Pawtucket. It got better when a largely intact "bean pot" surfaced. I hit an older pocked at one point that yielded an 1870s Indian Oil cylinder, and a squat blob Geo. P. Harvey from Newport RI. Sadly the latter was beat up. Needless to say it was a heck of a lot of fun! Brought home 35 bottles.
I met two locals, one who lived on the river. They were both very friendly and I gave them some of the bottles I found. One of them used to collect, and was kind enough to bring me to the old town dump afterwards! His son owned the property, so no one had dug it since he scratched around it in the 1960s. Imagine what could be in there!
I went back two more times, finding less but still good stuff. I found a few more sodas on the second dig, and nine more good ones on the third. They included some art deco sodas, some Westerly, RI sodas, and a nice Narragansett Brewing Co. Famous Export Ale from Providence. I bought one off the guy I met who lived on the river too. His was a hard to find acid-etched embossing version.
All in all, one of the best places I've dug. The owner has given me a rather exclusive access which is nice. I don't need to worry about anyone stealing my spot! Here are some pics and two videos. I may not have them up when this is posted, please bear with me!
It was a bottleneck (no pun intended) that trapped a bunch of bottles. The bedrock formed a nice V and trapped a lot of what went through it. There were bottles everywhere. I just started to pick them up off the surface! Many were junk ABM, but there were plenty of BIM stuff too. I found a bunch of local crown top sodas, a lot of clear slick medicines etc. etc. My first good find was a rare local druggist from Wickford, RI. I then found an unlisted whiskey half pint from Pawtucket. It got better when a largely intact "bean pot" surfaced. I hit an older pocked at one point that yielded an 1870s Indian Oil cylinder, and a squat blob Geo. P. Harvey from Newport RI. Sadly the latter was beat up. Needless to say it was a heck of a lot of fun! Brought home 35 bottles.
I met two locals, one who lived on the river. They were both very friendly and I gave them some of the bottles I found. One of them used to collect, and was kind enough to bring me to the old town dump afterwards! His son owned the property, so no one had dug it since he scratched around it in the 1960s. Imagine what could be in there!
I went back two more times, finding less but still good stuff. I found a few more sodas on the second dig, and nine more good ones on the third. They included some art deco sodas, some Westerly, RI sodas, and a nice Narragansett Brewing Co. Famous Export Ale from Providence. I bought one off the guy I met who lived on the river too. His was a hard to find acid-etched embossing version.
All in all, one of the best places I've dug. The owner has given me a rather exclusive access which is nice. I don't need to worry about anyone stealing my spot! Here are some pics and two videos. I may not have them up when this is posted, please bear with me!
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