How do you find bottle dumps?

I walked an old creek once and found old milk bottle glass in the creek which I kept looking and found the source on side of creek some ways up! The other place I didnt find but was told where the local 100 year old dump was located and dug it when they tore out the parking lot:yes:
 
Hey, If i was you i would research some old plat maps of older homes do find out about where the ash pits and bottle dumps were along time ago. One you find the location just start digging where you think it was and once you start hitting glass and ash you know your in the right place. Hope this helps!
 
Where i grew up, my bottle dump i just stumbled on. There's a creek i fossil hunt in, and we find dumps all along the creek. A bunch of old coke bottles
 
I was at the wife's family farm (now our deer camp) and my 2 nephews and I were md'ing...we came across a huge circular area of nothing but bottles...found out from father in law that there were tons of dumps on the property...not to mention a few old privy sites.......

local library's local history section. speak with one of the librarians. google maps, sanborn maps, old photos/postcards/aerial photos of the city/town etc...

one of the best things I've found, besides the above mentioned, just ask someone who grew up in the town. Was picking up daughter from her friend's birthday party and one of the mom's and I started talking and I asked if she knew where the old town dump was....she was surprised i didn't know where it was....i know the road, thought it was a 2track for 4wheelers and stuff.... you can park right there and walk in...

tons of ways to find info...just need to be creative.
 
I bottle hunt as well as metal detect. A lot of bottle dumps will be behind old homes. Look behind stone walls, along rivers, on embankments, etc. I'm out in the woods a lot and sometimes I'll get lucky and stumble upon an old dump. So theres research but also a little luck sometimes.
 
Creeks are always good places.If their are old homes, I have found that people just took the trash out to the woods behind the houses. Metal detectors are useful as alot of metal trash is found also.Permission is easier in the woods where people dont mind the digging as long as the trash is cleaned up.My wood shed sits directly on top of an old privy I want to re-dig.I found some good stuff.My relatives farm had a massive dump I found loads of good things on.
 
Places where bottle dumps can be located;
near old bridges on country roads --people put their trash out there
behind old houses in the country
in the woods just by open fields --farmers put their trash out here --this is where I had some of my best luck!
behind old churches in the woods
creeks/river banks --definitely check this when the water is low
woods along old rr tracks
old dumps around town --some of the old timers can let you know the location
:cool:
 
also besides lookin for broken glass keep an eye out for coal ash, they dumped their coal ash (fireplace ash) out with the trash(bottles and other stuff)
 
Is finding bottle dumps just luck of the draw or can you actually do research and find where they are?:?:

I once was walking along a riverbank and caught a glimmer of glass in my eye. I walked to it and scraped around it, pulling out a whole bottle. Over the next 5 years I dug out the entire hillside and found at least 150 whole bottles, all pre 1890, some jewelery, and all the parts to a horse and buggy, including horse bones. Always wondered how the stuff got there, was nothing in the area.

Its still there too, I just now live 2000 miles from it.
 
I've been having trouble finding dumps at a couple of old homesteads. I have found glass on the surface and a couple of early 1900 bottles. But no dump. A few shards here and there and nothing. I've walked every ravine and field edge in that area. Scoped out the place front and back and still can't find the dump. Any idea why? This place was occupied from the late 1800's on to about the 40's. Chance it may have been filled in?
 
That, for sure, sounds like a lot of work, but I bet you are sure glad you dug it all.
I once was walking along a riverbank and caught a glimmer of glass in my eye. I walked to it and scraped around it, pulling out a whole bottle. Over the next 5 years I dug out the entire hillside and found at least 150 whole bottles, all pre 1890, some jewelery, and all the parts to a horse and buggy, including horse bones. Always wondered how the stuff got there, was nothing in the area.

Its still there too, I just now live 2000 miles from it.
 
I'd consider well what everyone here is telling you!

I myself have searched and searched and never found one when looking. It happened one day while exploring the woods and I saw decently old jar in the leaf litter. Walked over to it and immediately felt crunching beneath my feet. I took great care from then on, but discovered a HUGE...or at least rather widespread area for bottle dumping. This one was near a stream/drainage pond also.

Decided to detect the area and found not much in the way of coins, but did discover that the bottle debris went down over a foot in some places! Insane!
 
Look at old maps for homes, once you get permission to hunt them ask the owner if they know anything about the property, they will usually be able to point you in the right direction. All they may say is "I find lots of pottery and glass over there." Look downhill from the main buildings and like many said waterways, fences, walls and depressions. Depending on the size of the dump you may find a small mound. Also keep out an eye for shellfish shells, these were very popular in the 1800,s since they were so cheap.
 
Old bottles to be found

Guys I met this weekend told me they find a lot of bottles in crawlspaces under homes they are clearing out. Forclosed homes . They get a lot of stuff but depending on who they work for, a bank or the government they get to keep a lot of smaller items.
M6 Mike
 
a lot of the bottles i found were on job sites i've been on. other good spots around my area are old house sites where there is nothing left except the foundation or a hole where the crawl space or basement once was
 
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