burned down mental hospital/jail 3 year wrap up (PLEASE READ THE ATTACHED ARTICLE B4 LOOKING AT PICS)

HannibalNectar

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Jun 16, 2015
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Location
southern New Hampshire
PLEASE READ THIS ARTICLE BEFORE LOOKING AT THE PICS! I THINK THIS MAKES THE FINDS SOOOO MUCH MORE SPECIAL AND EERIE. SO PLEASE READ THIS FIRST.

http://www.fosters.com/article/20090211/GJNEWS_01/702119921

So now you have that creepy story from 1893 in mind. Here's my wrap up of this exact spot.

This place has been very interesting and one of my favorite places to detect. I started detecting it two summers ago and im officially done. (Unless they turn a hay field to a corn field&churn up the good stuff)

This place is the county farm. Jail, court, rest home And all county offices. It is now all hay fields with a few patches of corn. Out on a small mound of grass in the back of the property is the monument. It states that in 1893 there was a fire that burned down the county mental hospital. Killing almost all the inmates, 41 total. I found that article online. It speaks about the surrounding fields being worked by the poor and insane. (MADE ME EXCITED TO DETECT THE FIELDS). The article also talks about a witness who stated seeing all the people at the barred Windows trying to get out, some of the insane were laughing! . But unfortunately no one unlocked the cells.

TERRIBLE STORY RIGHT? WELL FAST FORWARD TO THE FIRST DAY DETECTING AND WHEN I STUMBLE UPON BURNED WOOD BURIED IN THE HAY FIELD OUT BACK. I KNEW I WAS OVER THE SPREAD OUT REMAINS OF THE HOSPITAL. THAT'S WHEN I FOUND THE ITEMS IN THE FIRST FEW PICS.

PIC #1-#2 the lock plate for the cell door. It has a number one on it. (CELL #1). so I was Instantly thinking about someone kicking the other side of this and the fact that no one came to unlock it.

Pic #3 next I found this. A old key!!! I immediately tried it on the cell door plate. It wasn't for it. That would have been too creepy.

Pic#4 1893 Indian which is the year it burned down.

So after that I knew this place was going to be good. And over the next two summers I have just gridded every inch of that field digging every signal.
Highlights were two rings (stainless and a huge silver one), the liberty half cent,1797 Cartwheel coin (which is Huge) , 1788 Massachusetts colonial state cent, Canadian And usa large cents, numerous Indian cents,1864 2Cent piece, silver 1852 3Cent piece, and my favorite find was the 1898 GEO DEWEY Spanish American War medal.
So most finds were possibly there before the fire. The Dewey medal & several coins were obviously after. There is a brick building BUILT IN 1891 that is still there. Used to be the jail and court.

After that I thought I was done. All the other fields were hay fields and quick checks of them proved they were plowed and turned over and a 8"-12" inch layer of fill soil spread on top. Finding a beer can at a foot deep wasn't worth me gridding the huge fields if all the good stuff was 2 feet down. So then last year I happened to drive by and saw that they had scraped off an entire foot of top soil and tilled the ground and planted corn in the field next to my spot.
Well, this spring the corns gone and I just finished gridding every inch of that field and it didnt disappoint.

I added six more indians, a V nickel. A nice barber dime that was sticking out of the ground. A large cent (1837) and my second Massachusetts colonial state cent. (This Ones toasted but the first one I found was nice), and a sterling pocket watch lid. (Couldn't find the rest of it )

This place was awesome. And the whole time I was there I was thinking about the article. All the people who lost their lives. All the people who worked the field before and after the fire.
And who knows? If the county farm ends up doing corn in any one of the other surrounding fields, I will be waiting and get to add to this post!!!!
Thanks for reading.
 

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The town I grew up in has the most infamous state hospital in Massachusetts, I refuse to detect the corn fields around it lol just bad news
 
There is a similar site close to me, but the few times I tried detecting it, my detector went nuts! :laughing: not but really, I had little to no success. I think its been hit pretty hard already. This spot was torn down not burnt but now its just big open fields. I remember going in the old hospital when I was a teenager. Broken wheelchairs and beds were enough to get the hair on the back of your neck to stand up. Fantastic finds man!!!
 
Is that the one off route one in Saugus/danvers? That one is super creepy

Yeah, Danvers State. Some guys hunt that area, they can have at it lol. It's all colonial farm land they pull reales regularly but there's so many unmarked graves out there and a tunnel system I just want no part of it lol.
 
Yeah, Danvers State. Some guys hunt that area, they can have at it lol. It's all colonial farm land they pull reales regularly but there's so many unmarked graves out there and a tunnel system I just want no part of it lol.

I am SOOOO Different from you.. I would want Every part of it !!

I would even get one of them spooks to show me around and where all the good stuff is.
 
Man what a great bunch of relics that pretty much show's the history of that location. A nice group of finds . think I would continue to hunt it from time to time. Some very nice finds. Congrats
 
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