Old Homesteads????

[Big Norseman]

Hello All,  and anyone into metal detection,   i haven't bought one yet,  but its been on my TO-Do list for about ten years now,  and i'm always trying to pick up info,  

Question is,  i found an old homstead,  actually theses a bunch of them around my home in Rural western N.Y.
i went and walked around one today with a rake in hand,  house looks like its been gone for about 40 to 50 years,  but there is a well defined old field stone outline on the foundation,  much of it caved in,  and out,  i can even tell were the outhouse was,  well,   front porch,   much of how the house was positioned,    with a few out buildings,  one looks like an old sugar shack,  the roof is still present on that one,  
Well today buy just scrapping leaves,   and looking around,  found a bunch of metal objects,  moslty nails,  door hinges,  complete door lock set,   shell casings,  ect,  

Were is the best place to start looking with a detector??   the outter perimeter of the field stone,  or right at the bottom,  on the inside of the basement,  or craw space,  or what ever it was??      thanks in advance,  and thanks for allowing me to join the site,        John E. Petersen,  

                                                                       Chaffee N.Y.

[Meatball]

Welcome Norseman,

Sounds like you've found a good site for relics. I'm not far from you (Catt. County) so I  know what you mean about the old homesteads in that area. Can't really tell you how to go about it because it always depends on the site for me. One thing that will help is if you can find more info on the house that was there. Items such as dates, what type of family lived there (were they farmers, merchants, wealthy or poor), how the house was destroyed( fire, demolition, or just rotted away) will all help you to get an idea of what you may find. Also don't be afraid to talk to some of the old timers in the area. They often can give you quite a bit of info on a site and some are just happy to have someone to talk to.

Anyways these are just a few of my thoughts and tricks hope they help you out some.

Good Luck and Happy Hunting.
Meatball

[ironglow]

OK Meatball and Big Norseman...

   What is this, some kind of a reunion here on GBs site ? I am from Catt Co.about 10 miles from Chaffee..in fact, used to live up over Chaffee ...on the Geer rd.
  I usually hang out on the rifles sections on GBs but happened by here tonight..

   I have been using metal detectors for about 40 years...but unfortunately have left my THing slip over the last 5 years or so.

  I have a Troy Shadow II (by Tesoro) and a White's underwater unit. I have had various brands over the years, but that Tesoro built unit is really great...best I have ever had by far.

   Into the old homesteads:

  If the outhouse was an old "pit" type..there is one place to dig. Often times old bottles were discarded there..and with the old farmer pulling down his overalls..he sometimes lost a penny or two "down the hole". Even if he were aware of his loss..was it worth "fishing" for ?
 
   If you can find a stone or concrete porch or platform..check around the edges..coins lost, often rolled right off into the grass and were forgotten.
   Find where the old porch was if it was made of wood...if the boards had wide cracks when the house was lived in, things fell and either rolled or were kicked down through the cracks. That goes for any other wide spaced wood floor, such as the old woodshed

  Find a large, old tree or it's remains, preferrably on a direct line between the house and barn ..or on the lawn around the house.
 Old time farmers used to eat dinner during haying or threshing..then go lie under a nearby shade tree "to let their dinner settle" before going back to the strenuous work.
  I once found several Indian head pennies on an abandoned farmstead down on Java Lake rd., using that method.
    
   Stand on the back porch and scan the back yard..look for a low spot or swale that is not too far from the house...you're looking for the old trash pile or burn pile..bottles etc to be found. Farther back on the farm, at some secluded corner or ravine will be the main trash pile...where the burn pile would be hauled to... a couple time each year.

  Look around for a large rock or some such unchangeable feature..some folks used such places to put down "post hole banks"..jars or cans of currency. This was done for some years after the "crash of '29" when the banks failed and were wiped out.
  Just a few hints..I really must get back into the THing more regularly.

   Don't forget the old milkhouse...sometimes in the past, money was handled there..cash from the creamery, neighbors buying  milk etc.
  Check around any concrete pads or where an elevated wooden can rack may have stood..

      BTW: Are you perchance, the John Peterson that used to work for Motorola ?

[Spirithawk]

Around old homesteads an excellet place to look is along any old rock walls or fence lines close to where the house was. Those were favorite spots to stash jars with there savings in them because it made the spots easy to remember and get to. For instance a certain post might have been their marker or a certain spot in a rock wall.

[Blue Duck]

Yep, lots of the oldtimers didn't use banks.  Id check everything inside and out.  Like mentioned, fence lines, foundations and trees were favorite cache sites.  Well worth a looksee....

[rockbilly]

I have a friend who made a practice of hunting old outhouse locations, his theory, if someone dropped something in they rarely fished it out.  He has found a large variety of items, from old coins to an old colt pistol (what was left of it).  After a few years everything has decayed to the point that there is no health problem digging around in one, and of course the smell is gone. If it smells I would leave it alone!!!!

Most any place around an old homestead is good and might reap some of the treasuries I read/heard about.  Good hunting.

[1911crazy]

At the beach most of the finds are near where the car is parked.  I figured they dropped more stuff while taking out there keys.  This tells me to look were the most activity is near walkways and doorways.  Paths to the barn or sheds.