Where should I dig next?

[snapshot]

Actually, the ground is too dry to dig right now but, I started digging out my side yard for a swimming pool last summer, found lots of burned and broken bottles, then it got too hot so I went fishing instead , (Just so you know, I was digging by hand, with a shovel and I'm a girl mind you)... Anyway, recently I found out that I could get some Sanborn maps online, so I checked them out and was surprised to discover just how many houses have been built on this property in the past 100 years!
I have always known that a public sewer line was put in my back yard, probably in the 50's so I had assumed that the old privys all got dug up in the process but now, I'm not so sure.
Check out these maps, what do you think? Are some of the old privys still there? Note that the little rectangles in the images are most likely sheds since one of them was still standing when I bought the property in 1983.
The 2 concrete foundation things which I think are newer privys (I added them to the map) have not been dug either, well, one of them was dug down to only about 4 feet, all ashes BTW. But this was before I started thinking about bottles, I dug that one so that I could put in a fish pond. Any bottles would most likely be post 50s stuff in there anyway.
So, sorry to have gone on so long but I just wanted to share and maybe get some input.
Where would you dig next?

 

[Andy4707]

(What website did you go on for the sanborn maps?)

I don't no where i would dig, but if i were you i would probe around in your backyard, to try to find something, (just a suggestion.) Otherwise you might want to ask madman.

 

[snapshot]

The web site I used is for people in Ohio with a library card, you have to choose your local library, then enter your library card number. Here's the link for Ohioans, http://search3.webfeat.org/OplinAuth.asp
Then there is a search engine where you can choose "maps & images" the sanborn images show up in the resaults.
I don't know if this info is available online in other states though.

 

[KentOhio]

I'm in Ohio. All the Sanborn maps for the cities I've looked at (NE Ohio) don't have the outhouses marked on them. So even with a map it's still a guessing game. But almost certainly, the outhouses would have been along the property lines. People wanted to get it as close to the neighbor's yard as possible.. haha

 

[madman]

hey snapshot check along the lot lines or back corners for dips or depressions good luck

 

[madman]

hey snapshot i no where theres two of those concrete privys i dont no if ill dig them smelly!!! mike

 

[snapshot]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys!

Actually I hit glass no matter where I dig, I think the number of houses that have been here over the past 100 years explains why! I was surprised that there were so many.

Here's a pic of one foundation that I have dug so far. (I want to put a pool there!)
Most of the bottles I found were near where the fireplace was, do you suppose they kept the full ones there during the winter to keep them from freezing?

 

[Tony14]

What years did the majority of your bottles date to?

 

[madman]

hey snapshot mabey you found the garbage pit ? mike

 

[snapshot]

Tony, The bottles I dug out of the foundation were from around the turn of the century, I think that particular house burned down shortly after 1905 and was promptly covered over with dirt since there were no "newer" bottles there.

Madman, I think these folks dumped their trash in the spaces between the houses as the ground is slightly raised up there, I've found older as well as modern glass there but it's very difficult to dig because of some very large trees, rocks, coal, bricks... you name it, it's in there! I do plan to cut down some of the trees soon though, I just don't know how to get those huge roots out without using some major earth moving equipment!
However, the idea of a trash pit sounds like something I'd enjoy discovering!