Privy Full of Bottles but can't Dig.

[Nola.River.Rat]

Dang sounds like you were so close to hitting a mother load. Do you think the equipment crushed everything? Maybe you could go back and dig for some undamaged bottles? We are able to do recreation activities in Louisiana.

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[Troutmaster08]

That sucks.

 

[Dewfus]

After work I stopped by where they just tore down/Demolished a old house. As usual I go in back yard where they tore out Concrete Garage floor. This is where the old Privy's like to hide. I see a bottle in dirt & at first I think it's a Beer Bottle with broken off top. As I walk over to it I see a little sliver of what looks like a piece of crock slightly peeking out of the dirt, I start wiping the dirt away & see some Lettering & Automatically I know what it is, seen many before, I get excited & start wiping the dirt away but assume it's just a broken shard but as I wipe the more & more I see & I start thinking, COOL, Looks like it's whole & it is. Out comes a nice Matheson Ginger Beer Stoneware Pottery Bottle by Detroit Distilled Water Co. Then I walk over to the broken beer bottle to see what it is, But then I see, it's not broke, it's just short looking because it's a Hutch. As I pick it up & wipe dirt off I say to myself what I always say, I hope it's not a Norris. And it is. The Most common Detroit Hutch. Anyways, in a nutshell I'm pretty sure the bulldozers dug into a Privy with all the White Ash & broken shards laying around. I wanted to pull out my Shovel & start digging & usually I would of, BUT, With Detroit being the 3rd worst City with the Corona Virus & in Total Lock Down with $1,000 fine if caught out doing non essentials I could see it now, Cop drives by & Stops & say's Hey, What you doing there, I say Digging old Bottles. Not sure what they'd say about that? Plus Neighbor came out back door so I grabbed the Bottles & headed for the Car. This spot could be filled in, in the next day or 2. hopefully it will be a few weeks before that happens. LEON.View attachment 205907

There beautiful good stuff

 

[treeguyfred]

Dang sounds like you were so close to hitting a mother load. Do you think the equipment crushed everything? Maybe you could go back and dig for some undamaged bottles? We are able to do recreation activities in Louisiana.

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I'm with Nola and Sandchip if you present an authoritative presence you could at least probe around in grids and pop up a few or several bottles. I have placed a non-descript hardhat and hyvee vest on and did some "official" land examining work.
~Fred

 

[hemihampton]

I've got a plan, have had a plan. my plan is to wait a little while, fall, next spring, maybe 5 years from now. But I'll be back with a probe & maybe my digging buddy Tom to find it once again. What sucks is I had the perfect marker or X Marks the spot. there was a big tree, slanted on a angle because it was half nocked over by the Bulldozer or some heavy equipment. I knew exactly where this Privy was from the tree. BUT, when I came back the next day they tore that big tree out & removed it, probably because they already had it half knocked over & figured best to now just remove all together. Making my job much more difficult to relocate. But I got a rough Idea where it's at. Another problem is I'm digging in Detroit, many people don't want to dig in Detroit for fear of getting carjacked, robbed, murdered or killed. SO, Sometimes gotta dig by myself & I do all the time but I prefer not to considering there are homeless bums, vagrants, low life scumbags coming out of the bush's, alleys, abandoned burnt down crack houses all the time. There is only one house left standing on this block & it's right next to this empty lot as can be seen in pics. Unfortunately this house is full of many shady looking characters constantly hanging out on porch, back yard & just roaming around & hanging out. I like to keep a low profile & away from prying eyes when digging privy's on empty abandoned lots. Hard to do with all the Bums hanging out next door being nosy. Anybody in Detroit area wanta come dig this spot with me your welcome to come along. LEON.

 

[GLASSHOPPER55]

I've got a plan, have had a plan. my plan is to wait a little while, fall, next spring, maybe 5 years from now. But I'll be back with a probe & maybe my digging buddy Tom to find it once again. What sucks is I had the perfect marker or X Marks the spot. there was a big tree, slanted on a angle because it was half nocked over by the Bulldozer or some heavy equipment. I knew exactly where this Privy was from the tree. BUT, when I came back the next day they tore that big tree out & removed it, probably because they already had it half knocked over & figured best to now just remove all together. Making my job much more difficult to relocate. But I got a rough Idea where it's at. Another problem is I'm digging in Detroit, many people don't want to dig in Detroit for fear of getting carjacked, robbed, murdered or killed. SO, Sometimes gotta dig by myself & I do all the time but I prefer not to considering there are homeless bums, vagrants, low life scumbags coming out of the bush's, alleys, abandoned burnt down crack houses all the time. There is only one house left standing on this block & it's right next to this empty lot as can be seen in pics. Unfortunately this house is full of many shady looking characters constantly hanging out on porch, back yard & just roaming around & hanging out. I like to keep a low profile & away from prying eyes when digging privy's on empty abandoned lots. Hard to do with all the Bums hanging out next door being nosy. Anybody in Detroit area wanta come dig this spot with me your welcome to come along. LEON.

Ya that whole thing sux Leon, but at least you grabbed a few nice souvenirs anyway. That place gives me the willies, is that Detroit? What a great historical place but oh so hard to dig at, especially with the "audience". I've read some bad stories about inner-city digging.

 

[hemihampton]

Dang sounds like you were so close to hitting a mother load. Do you think the equipment crushed everything? Maybe you could go back and dig for some undamaged bottles? We are able to do recreation activities in Louisiana.

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NO, I don't think the equipment crushed much. mainly because what they usually do is tear out the garages concrete floor located in back corner of lot. Before this Garage was built or most garages were built what resided there was the Privy. After they get indoor plumbing they fill in the Privy, no need for it. Then a few years later this new invention called the Automobile is getting popular & everybody is buying one & then everybody is building a garage for it. In Detroit all the old houses have the garage at very back at alley & usually only accesible by the alley. Coincedently this is where they usually put the Privy in the old days before the Garage. Fast forward 100 years. when they tear this garage floor out they only dig down enough to get the concrete out which is usually 2 feet, sometimes 3 feet along walls . 2 or 3 feet only scratches the surface of any privy. Privy's here range from 4-6 feet but trash pit more shallow 1-3 feet. When I dig 6 feet down to the bottom of this privy it will be far away from where the bulldozers reached. LEON.

 

[hemihampton]

Ya that whole thing sux Leon, but at least you grabbed a few nice souvenirs anyway. That place gives me the willies, is that Detroit? What a great historical place but oh so hard to dig at, especially with the "audience". I've read some bad stories about inner-city digging.

Yes, That's Detroit. You've read some bad stories on inner city digging. I can tell you same bad stories, Like the time I was digging in Latin Counts Mexican Gang Territory by myself when what looked like 2 mexican gang members tried to smash out my window with a big rock & brick to either steal my car or steal radio or what ever, I chased them off after yelling & waving my shovel & pointed speared Probe at them. Fun Times. LOL. LEON.

 

[Nola.River.Rat]

NO, I don't think the equipment crushed much. mainly because what they usually do is tear out the garages concrete floor located in back corner of lot. Before this Garage was built or most garages were built what resided there was the Privy. After they get indoor plumbing they fill in the Privy, no need for it. Then a few years later this new invention called the Automobile is getting popular & everybody is buying one & then everybody is building a garage for it. In Detroit all the old houses have the garage at very back at alley & usually only accesible by the alley. Coincedently this is where they usually put the Privy in the old days before the Garage. Fast forward 100 years. when they tear this garage floor out they only dig down enough to get the concrete out which is usually 2 feet, sometimes 3 feet along walls . 2 or 3 feet only scratches the surface of any privy. Privy's here range from 4-6 feet but trash pit more shallow 1-3 feet. When I dig 6 feet down to the bottom of this privy it will be far away from where the bulldozers reached. LEON.

Nice! Interesting info. We pretty much have the same conditions here. I just rarely find the site before it is fenced off and concrete poured for the next structure. Gentrification is big here unfortunately. You should get a good guard dog, I used to have a 45 lb dog that loved going out with me. The thugs will stay clear but you could get caught up in a dog fight. Lots of pitbulls here. Be safe and don't fall for the "ya got a light bro" trick!

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[hemihampton]

What is Gentrification? That's a new word for me, never heard of it? you don't want anything that will attract attention like a big dog would, your trying to keep a low profile, sneak in & out quietly unnoticeable if possible, why? Already had the cops called on me more then once due to nosy neighbors. Cops always say the same thing, Are you Bury a dead Body? Once they see the bottles & shards & you explain it to them they pretty much walk off laughing. Even had the Cops sneak up behind us & pull Guns on us & say Freeze, Drop your weapons, so I drop my little hand rake. Seems the Cops got a call 2 guys were burying a dead body down by the river bank at end of the dead end road. Detroit is full of nothing but Pitbulls, almost everybody has one. LEON.