Privy digging

[dmayermpls]

Noticed an old run down house in south Mpls with, I believe, r 3 privy pits in the backyard. Researched the property, house built 1883 & Sanborn maps confirmed 1 possible privy! Contacted the landowner about digging, of course very professionally& he wouldn't give me the time of day! Shot me down so fast!! My very first "No"!! One of those pits is potentially a pontil pit!! I'm devastated cuz all that history & treasures that are "possibly" buried in that yard r gonna stay there!! I wanna dig that yard!! What's my next move....any suggestions?

 

[hemihampton]

If the House was Built in 1883 & the Privy's date to 1883+ then I highly doubt any Pontils. You ask what's your next move or Suggestions. I have one & it's works good. All you have to do is Mention MONEY & there Ears Perk up & they Stop & Listen. Why, People are Greedy & Money may Change there Mind. Try It. LEON.

 

[willong]

If the House was Built in 1883 & the Privy's date to 1883+ then I highly doubt any Pontils. You ask what's your next move or Suggestions. I have one & it's works good. All you have to do is Mention MONEY & there Ears Perk up & they Stop & Listen. Why, People are Greedy & Money may Change there Mind. Try It. LEON.

I agree on pontiled bottles being unlikely at the cited location.

The reason I am replying though, Leon, is to ask if you have ever had to resort to paying cash just for permission to dig? Wouldn't that be a significant gamble? Or, would you agree to pay a certain fee only for intact recovered items? I've never been a privy digger*; but I have thought about it and figured one approach would be to offer, up-front, a share of the finds before the search commences. Is that an approach you have employed?

Thanks,


Will

*To be honest, I'd rather prowl around in the woods than knock on urban doors. But then, in western WA, I don't live in an area with a wealth of old city residential lots either.

 

[PlaneDiggerCam]

Noticed an old run down house in south Mpls with, I believe, r 3 privy pits in the backyard. Researched the property, house built 1883 & Sanborn maps confirmed 1 possible privy! Contacted the landowner about digging, of course very professionally& he wouldn't give me the time of day! Shot me down so fast!! My very first "No"!! One of those pits is potentially a pontil pit!! I'm devastated cuz all that history & treasures that are "possibly" buried in that yard r gonna stay there!! I wanna dig that yard!! What's my next move....any suggestions?

I've been shot down before by landowners of good privy pit yards and bottle dumps. You just have to tell yourself that the next one will be even better. I usually always keep a record of these properties though, since if the property changes ownership you can get a second chance.

 

[nhpharm]

I have offered cash to dig a lot in the past. It is obviously a gamble but digging is a gamble anyways. If the lot is run down and noone lives there, sometimes I'll probe it out first, then offer something to the landowner for permission to dig.

It might be more effective to offer to clean up the lot, weedwhack it...something like that.