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The "Other Places" On Lakes Besides the public swim beaches there are "other places" on lakes that make for prime hunting grounds. These places will require research on your part however. The sites mentioned below will give you guys something to start on. House Boats - - These were very popular on lakes back
in the 1800's. Drinking water, bath water, In the 1910's "Grocery Boats" &
"Miniature Oil Barges" were servicing many house boat
communities. The people in the house boats had it made as they didn't
even have to leave their homes to live a normal life. Then in the
1920's new State Legislative Health Dept. Laws started to take into
effect. The laws basically said, "No plumbing then you're out of
here!". :) The house boat people were being accused of creating
"cesspools" out of some lakes. The sanitary conditions of
the lake water was effecting the swimmers at the bathing beaches and
everyone who came into contact with the water. The fact of the Once referred to as "Water Gypsies" and "Floating Bungalows" these house boat areas can make for a very productive hunt. With research on your part, you too will be scooping up the goodies. :) Old Ferry Stops - - These also were very popular in
the 1800's up until about 1940 when bridges across lakes made the
steam ferries obsolete. These ferry dock areas made for good swimming
holes for the kids also. The people on the Lots of money exchanged hands at these old ferry terminals. Coins rolled off docks, people "chucked" their empty bottles into the lake, actually they tossed a lot of different stuff into the lake back then. :) Some of the smaller remote ferry docks are still out there and awaiting their first ever water hunter. More lake sites you can research: 1. Boat Launches - A good place to find gold rings and other misc. things 2. Old Boy Scout & Girl Scout Camps - Silver coins & Silver rings galore. A virgin water site of this nature should net you at least a couple pounds of silver :) 3. Old Churches located next to Lakes - That innocent looking water by the church has goodies in it. They swam out there also! 4. Old Swim Resorts - These are the "Grand Salami's" of lake sites. :) I'll have more on these in a later issue. 5. Private Community Beaches - Today these are usually fenced off and locked. Every home of the community should have a key. The community may also have an elected "Mayor". Get to know someone so you can get inside their gate. 6. YMCA Summer Camps - They had many "Swim Meets" back in the 1920's & 30's. Find one and you'll be in "Ring Country"! :) 7. Old Fishing Piers - A good place to find silver coins and an occasional gold ring. 8. Amusement Parks - These were popular on lakes beginning in the 1880's. Human water slides, Music Theaters & Dance Halls located on piers out over the water, Boat Rentals, Movie Theaters, Park equipment, rides for the kids, and a Bath House for the swimmers. Some parks also had a Pro Baseball team. 9. Old Fraternal Buildings located next to lakes - Masonic, Elks, Lions etc. Get permission to hunt their water! 10. Boat Buildings - This is where they stored their boats. Most of these buildings were small and had only a roof over them with no walls. These were very popular on lakes from about 1880 to 1940. Today they are referred to as boat moorages. HR - Happy Researching! L.W. |
swimming water and fishing were all just a few feet beyond their front
doors. Knowing that iron has a tendency to rust when its around water,
some house boats were built using brass and copper square nails. If
you ever start finding these types of nails in a lake then there will
surely be other goodies nearby. :) Just think... Anything small that
dropped into the lake was "gonzo" forever. Sometimes the
people on these houseboats wouldn't even bother to go after the big
stuff that they dropped into the water, like brass lanterns for
example. Antique jewelry, brass sewing needles & silver thimbles,
coins from the 1800's, pocket watches, lead toys, buttons, guns &
ammo... you name it. Your "finds list" would be almost
endless.
matter is... Before there were ever house boats
on lakes, people had sewage pipes running from their homes (on land)
out into the lakes. What were people thinking back then? :(
ferries would toss coins into the water while the kids were swimming
nearby. The kids in the lake would try to catch the coins while trying
to stay afloat. And I'm sure they caught all of them too. :)