jimther
Elite Member
I've seen a few recent posts asking for help in how to find detecting spots near where the original poster lives.
One thing that might be overlooked (by newbies especially) is street and road name clues.
These days, fewer folks are using a book of maps for the area where we live or in adjacent towns & counties. Google maps, WAZE, GPS devices etc., seem to have replaced the paper map books.
In my area, near Boston, there was always an assortment of large paper-bound map books on display in stationery and other stores. Not so much any more. In the back of each book, was an alphabetical street index, by town. I used to need these to look up directions before traveling to a client's home.
Often, while my wife would be shopping in a store, I would pull out the map books and start browsing the street names in the index for clues to older places in these street names. Here's a few examples of street names that might be leads to current or past places that could be worth checking out.
~ School Street
~ Church Street
~ Mill Street
~ Grove Street
~ Old Farm Road
~ and likely many other good clues
Next step is to figure out how that street got it's name; Was or is there a school or church or mill on this street? No? Use older maps to figure out WHERE these were, and what's there now. Usually a Grove street would have been the road to where folks went to picnic "in the grove".
Even though I don't use the map books now so much for getting driving directions, I have hung on to them for detecting research.
Good luck.
Jim
One thing that might be overlooked (by newbies especially) is street and road name clues.
These days, fewer folks are using a book of maps for the area where we live or in adjacent towns & counties. Google maps, WAZE, GPS devices etc., seem to have replaced the paper map books.
In my area, near Boston, there was always an assortment of large paper-bound map books on display in stationery and other stores. Not so much any more. In the back of each book, was an alphabetical street index, by town. I used to need these to look up directions before traveling to a client's home.
Often, while my wife would be shopping in a store, I would pull out the map books and start browsing the street names in the index for clues to older places in these street names. Here's a few examples of street names that might be leads to current or past places that could be worth checking out.
~ School Street
~ Church Street
~ Mill Street
~ Grove Street
~ Old Farm Road
~ and likely many other good clues
Next step is to figure out how that street got it's name; Was or is there a school or church or mill on this street? No? Use older maps to figure out WHERE these were, and what's there now. Usually a Grove street would have been the road to where folks went to picnic "in the grove".
Even though I don't use the map books now so much for getting driving directions, I have hung on to them for detecting research.
Good luck.
Jim
