Where do you live? And where do you dig?

[Pontiled]

J.D., I've got lots of stories from the old days, but would I bore you all with them? Just tell me, if you all want to hear them (It would be like Grandpa sitting in the center with everyone else sitting around, wishing they had been there!).

Hey guys, I also sang in the old days! My cousin was "Cousin Sadie" with WLVA in Lynchburg, Va.

 

[Rrey199]

I'm from upstate NY, 75 miles north of NYC. My house dates to 1884, and my area is full of historic areas. New Paltz is 2 miles from me and was settled in 1649.

 

[luvtodig]

Hey Mike! Stories are always good, not boring..what was it like to go into these bottle dumps where no one else had been? Were the bottles just laying on the ground? The old homesteads ; did they just leave things behind when they vacated? Intresting reading for me at least..there was one place that we dug, back in the 80's that no one had touched for 100 years..it was so cool[8D]..I would like to hear more..take care!

 

[Pontiled]

Hi nSusanne,

Okay, I'll start telling stories about the early days and hope you all will enjoy them. I will try to begin telling them tomorrow. I certainly hope that they will be informative, honest (above all else), and interesting to everyone..

 

[deepwoods]

Mike - Please do! Btw Anything left of that Jamestown dump?

 

[ryanguns1974]

I am brand new to this site.

I live in Chicago,IL and am looking for good places to dig.

Any info is appreciated.

Thanks guys.

 

[Pontiled]

Okay, let's start with the old Jamestown, N.Y., site, since it's been mentioned before. It's right off of Rt. 17, near the city and right off the lake. I haven't been there in more than 20 years, so it's probably built over by now, but who knows? If it's still there and you can get on, let me know what you find. Dig on the left side as you face the site. The oldest things are toward the front, but it doesn't matter; it's a great old dump.

There were 4 of us digging. One fellow went off toward the front of the site while the other 3 dug as a group elsewhere. The digging was good. We dug some nice blob-top sodas and beers, tons of medicines and canning jars, etc. The digging was always good. Seriously, we would leave Virginia with only our digging tools and the clothes we needed. You don't drive that many miles unless it's worth it. Each time, we came back with a full truck full of goodies and left a lot behind.

On this particular day, the single digger, Howard, went and dug a hole further up from us. After a while, we heard him yelling, so we scrambled to see what was wrong. When we got there, we saw Howard's feet sort of sticking up from the hole with his head well into the hole. The overburden was about 1-1/2 feet deep, right over his head. We thought some of it had collapsed on him. Nope, he another reason to holler!

Howard had unearthed the remnants of an old tin with jewelry in it. He held his hand out to us. The first thing I remember coming out was an emerald ring, then a wedding band
(gold, of course). Then another wedding band and a diamond ring. This process continued for quite a while. After he had gotten everything out, we sat down and discussed what he had found. Of course, it's a bit hard to talk when you've just excavated a small fortune, but we sat and finally tried to figure out where they came from. The only thing that would explain it a jewelry store robbery. There were more gold wedding bands that would be in a family. People don't usually have more than 1 diamond ring, especially in different sizes. They were either hidden in the dump or somewhere else and accidentally put in the household's trash.

Now, for me, the best part was that Harold, a strong and good worker, was out of work and his unemployment was running out. This little ransom would keep Harold and his wife, along with their children, with food and a house over their heads for quite a while. A little over a year later, Howard was back at work. Thanks for the true tale, Howard.

Next time, we'll talk about the right side of the site. But that's another story.

 

[deepwoods]

Great story Mike! I guess the powers that be work in mysterious ways.I read the autobiography of a cat burgler from the turn of the century who said he burgled a company payroll,buried the loot in lot,came back 2mths later only to find a new house built right on top of the spot.Made me think of your friends find.What about some of the great bottles you found over the years?Any one of kinds or close to it?I have a friend that dug a very strange,crude teepee soda - Charmont Soda Water,teal,very pronounced shape,supposedly only one other one known.Did you know anybody that dug in the fifties or earlier?

 

[luvtodig]

Thanks for the great story Mike[] I love happy endings[] as we all know, people buried things all the time in the old days..I have heard tales of money found in jars, in the walls of houses, ect...loot from a holdup is what kepps treasure hunters going...looking forward to the next story Mike[]

 

[Gunsmoke47]

Great story Mike! And HOORAY for Harold! Stories like this is what it is all about. For every thousand times I've sunk a shovel and come up empty, there is always the chance that the next time there will be an extremely rare bottle, a well preserved historical artifact, or a small fortune from a robbery of yore![] I love this hobby! Happy Diggin, Kelley