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Tips for Finding Old Bottle Dumps?

GeorgiaJay

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Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Messages
580
Location
Noth Atlanta, GA
I have found a few cellar holes and numerous wells, while md'ing, but I don't think that I have ever found an old bottle dump.

I have read a little bit about finding old bottle dumps on another forum, but I was wondering if you guys had any advice for finding them?

Thanks for any tips and advice that you might have!
 
It probably depends on the area on the prairie plains bottles were often reused or discarded down the toilet hole because of the fear of them starting a fire,, the sun shining through them on dry grass acting like a magnifying glass.

Although many homesteaders used a "washout" to discard unwanted items it would serve two purposes. preventing erosion and no need to dig a hole.
 
In the mountains of the northeast, they are frequently found in rocky crevasses... was conventient to dump there and sort of out of sight. RickO
 
We always found ours by accident, because they are usually overgrown.

The detector detected a cap on a bottle, then when we dug, there were more bottles.

So if you are detecting property and not finding much, locating the bottle dump is the greatest thing. :yes:
 
So if you are detecting property and not finding much, locating the bottle dump is the greatest thing. :yes:

I agree, I have found one by the zinc lids to old mason jars. Then I just started pulling them out. I have a thread on it in Stories and Pics of Finds...HH
NC
 
The vegetation if any changes also.A concentration of more weedy and nettle type plants can signify what was essentially a rubbish dump at one time.
 
Broken glass is always a give away...

You can look for depressions in the ground from junk settling...

When I was a kid I dug up some 500+ bottles from the early 1900's in an old swampy area that was completely underwater in the spring.

Usually dumps are a ways from the house.

In New England, keep an eye out for breaks in stone walls that a cart could be driven through... carts would be loaded up with junk and hauled to the local dump. Not too far away but at least out of sight of the house.
 
Here's some excellent details on how to find those completely covered bottle dumps and privy holes using a long home-made ground probe. As it says in the article, you're not looking to "feel" bottles with it - rather you're looking for that odd difference in ground texture that usually is a void rather than a solid ground feel:

http://my.net-link.net/~prostock/bottle_digging_part_1.html

http://my.net-link.net/~prostock/Bottle_digging_II_III.html

http://my.net-link.net/~prostock/bottle-digging_IV.html

http://my.net-link.net/~prostock/bottle_digging_V.html

Often times old community bottle dumps can be found cascading down river front slopes - found a couple here in Minnesota along the Mississippi myself. Walk along the river at the water line a look up the slope - if there was one there you'll see all sorts of bottles and broken glass cascading down the slope.

A pitch fork is a common tool for getting deeper into the soil - gently insert and twist to break open the soil.

Be sure and check YouTube for some excellent bottle digging videos too. I gotta' tell ya, bottle digging videos are about 1000 times better than watching metal detecting videos!
 
check in the nearest ravine for the old dumps, someplace downwind, and in a pot where your not going to want to build anything. You can use a detector to find the old cans that will be in the dump. good luck.
 
Thanks for all of the great tips and advice!
I am going to jot them all down and read the links that you guys provided.

I think that people would usually dump their old bottles and other trash, as far away from their home as possible, without being on someone else's property.

So, knowing the property lines of old and/or abandoned homes might be helpful in finding old bottle dumps.

I just found an old stone house, in the woods, a few days ago.
It was built in the mid to late 1800's.

It has a small cellar hole, but I haven't found much yet.
So far, all that I have found is some old beer cans, nails, and pieces of other scrap metal.

There is a heavily polluted creek about 20 feet away from this old stone structure or house.
Also, there is some exotic plants and flowers that look out of place in the woods.

Hopefully, I can find some cool stuff there, after it quits raining.
I would love to find an old bottle dump there!
 
Here's some excellent details on how to find those completely covered bottle dumps and privy holes using a long home-made ground probe. As it says in the article, you're not looking to "feel" bottles with it - rather you're looking for that odd difference in ground texture that usually is a void rather than a solid ground feel:

http://my.net-link.net/~prostock/bottle_digging_part_1.html

http://my.net-link.net/~prostock/Bottle_digging_II_III.html

http://my.net-link.net/~prostock/bottle-digging_IV.html

http://my.net-link.net/~prostock/bottle_digging_V.html

Often times old community bottle dumps can be found cascading down river front slopes - found a couple here in Minnesota along the Mississippi myself. Walk along the river at the water line a look up the slope - if there was one there you'll see all sorts of bottles and broken glass cascading down the slope.

A pitch fork is a common tool for getting deeper into the soil - gently insert and twist to break open the soil.

Be sure and check YouTube for some excellent bottle digging videos too. I gotta' tell ya, bottle digging videos are about 1000 times better than watching metal detecting videos!


Wow...that is an excellent article!
Thanks for all the great info!
I am definitely going to make a probe.
Thanks Tom.
Have a great weekend.
 
I think that people would usually dump their old bottles and other trash, as far away from their home as possible, without being on someone else's property.

So, knowing the property lines of old and/or abandoned homes might be helpful in finding old bottle dumps.

Well, I think that people would certainly be inclined to dump their garbage out of sight of their house; far enough away that it could not be seen or smelled. But I'm not sure they would necessarily dump it as far away as possible because then taking out the trash would be more of a hassle than it needed to be. You wouldn't want to walk a mile to take out the garbage, you know?
 
We have probably found and dug up about 60 dumps or so. We go along the old railroad lines (abandoned are oldest ) looking for the old concrete slabs, rusty cans, glass, etc. If you get an old map of rail lines you will see they had a section house with family about every 7-8 miles. These people took care of the lines and lived there = dumps. We find all kinds of things at them.
Here's a good book to get on old lines in your neighborhood, Steve in so az

RRatlas.jpg
 
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Well, I think that people would certainly be inclined to dump their garbage out of sight of their house; far enough away that it could not be seen or smelled. But I'm not sure they would necessarily dump it as far away as possible because then taking out the trash would be more of a hassle than it needed to be. You wouldn't want to walk a mile to take out the garbage, you know?

Every one used to have a slop bucket every thing like potato peelings table scraps etc. went into it. Before it became too full or started to stink it would get dumped out to the hogs, chickens and dogs. any thing that was burnable went into the wood stove, summer time a burn barrel out back. glass and tin would be separated and stock piled then later hauled to the dump or washout by wagon tractor or now the modern day pickup.
A good deep washout could be miles away

Farmers & ranchers that are to far away for garbage service still use this method today a few of them do bag it and haul it to town.
 
The last one I found was on the NH side of the Connecticut River when the power company let water out of the dam below us. It left shore line that I could walk down. In this case it was a steep bank at the end of a windrow between two fields. Broken glass gave the location away. I carried away a dozen bottles in exelent condition but never went back. So I guess what I am trying to say is to look along steep river banks.
 
I went md'ing in the woods, yesterday, and found a bunch of old bottle dumps.
I found them close to an old manufacturing company that was built in the late 1800's and closed in the early 1900's.
There must must have been at least 10 to 12 of these old bottle dumps.
A lot of them had charcoal, old buckets, tin cans, broken glass and old bottles laying on the ground.
I used a metal probe that was about 3' long and it sunk straight into the ground with very little resistance.

I found a couple of medicine bottles, a bunch of old bottles, a belt, and some broken china.
One of the medicine bottles is cobalt blue and is a Philips Milk of Magnesia bottle.
The other medicine bottle is made out of clear glass, has measurements on the side, and is labeled 3iii.
I am not sure what 3iii could stand for?

When I go back, I am going to take a longer probe and bring some larger digging tools.
There are so many of these bottle dumps back there, I am not sure which one to start with?
I can't imagine trying to dig all of these privies up.

Thanks again for all of the great advice and tips for finding bottle dumps.
I had no idea how many bottle dumps are out there.
 
One of the medicine bottles is cobalt blue and is a Philips Milk of Magnesia bottle.

Very cool Jay! Man, you are gonna' have a heyday with that site for sure! Fun to read that you made a probe and it worked as intended.

Look familiar?

Philips.jpg


My son found this one two years ago along side of the road at our family cabin. An old tree had fallen over and the root system opened up the ground and that bottle was poking out of the soil.

We could only hope that you have a camera where you could share some pics of the site and some of your finds! Go slow and easy with the digging tools - I can't tell you how many bottles I accidentally broke early on... Best of luck to ya!

P.S. - At the time I checked eBay on that bottle and found the same one with bids of just under $10 for it. You may have some real glass value on your hands with those dumps!
 
That's a nice bottle!
I really like the emblem on it and the color of the bottle.
I think that mine is either newer or older than the one your son found.
The bottle that I found only has markings on the bottom of it.
Maybe you can tell how old this bottle is.
Here is a couple of pics that I just took:

Side View

DSC02122.JPG


Bottom View


DSC02125.JPG
 
Be sure and check YouTube for some excellent bottle digging videos too. I gotta' tell ya, bottle digging videos are about 1000 times better than watching metal detecting videos!

Man...I have been watching a bunch of bottle digging videos on youtube and it is amazing what these guys are pulling out of the ground!

Civil War relics, old pottery, buttons, belt buckles, coins, antiques, china,
ink bottles, medicine bottles, old bottles, clay pipes, etc.

There are some really good videos by a few guys called, "The Treasure Hunters" and there is also some great videos from the U.K.

I really hope that I can get permission to go bottle digging in an old park that is not to far my house.

I already have permission to metal detect this park, but I dunno if they are going to let me and a bunch of friends dig huge holes in the ground. :lol:

They might let us, since all of the old dumps are in a very remote area where there aren't any trails.
 
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