Posted 4 years ago
Watchsearc…
(88 items)
Over 25 years and many hours spent landscaping and digging for one reason or another, I’ve amassed this assortment of iron objects I’ve come across in my yard.
From tiny square nails, hinges, chains, hooks, a hoe, ax heads, railroad spike, part of a scale, and items I cannot identify, they are little rusty treasures to me.
I’ve been told there was once a barn here which burned down several decades ago. And prior to the Civil War, this area was part of a town that was torched in Sherman’s march across Georgia to the sea. Going farther back in history, the Native Americans of this area were driven from their homes so those properties could be taken over by White settlers....that horror of US history was called The Trail of Tears. With all the previous inhabitants here, there’s probably plenty more things I just haven’t come across yet.
I’m reorganizing and cleaning today so decided to share my finds on CW Show and Tell.
I’m dividing into 2 posts so I can show closeups of my favorites. Here’s Part 1.
In picture 3 and 4, I would like to know the purpose of this item. It looks like a handle with “OS 64” in raised letters on the inside....but what would it go to?
Are you just finding these items by digging? Or are you actually metal detecting? Got some really cool stuff there.
dav2no1, thanks for the love and the comment.
I’ve found them all simply raking the ground preparing to seed, digging to plant shrubs or to prepare flower beds and vegetable gardening,
A tornado uprooted many trees on my property a few years ago so lots of dirt was disturbed/brought to the surface and various parts of the property had to be regraded with machinery to relandscape and build new out-buildings.
I spend most of my time doing yard work; not much escapes me, whether it’s a pretty creature, odd rock or something metallic out of place in the dirt.
None were found metal detecting, although I keep thinking that I should try that this Winter.
fortapache, thanks for taking a look and giving a love!
Yeah I keep wondering if you're just finding this stuff raking..... what could you find with a metal detector?
Maybe your property is the next Oak Island haha
dav2no1, I would be overjoyed to find something of value! If I ever do, I’ll be sure to post it. :-)
You certainly lucked out with these superb treasures. Barns or near them were always my favourite dig sites and your find is quite spectacular for a garden, good for you !~
The scales is known as a steelyard and looks mostly complete except for the hanging weight which slides along the arm. A lot were made of iron but some were also of bronze and some had a wooden arm. There are probably numbers stamped along the arm for reading weights.
PhilDMorris, I appreciate your comment! It’s so nice to know that, even with your fabulous jewelry and fine items, you still appreciate old rusty crusty iron like this!
Irishcollector, Thanks for commenting. Yes, there are numbers along the bar, all the way to 200, and tiny notches all along the length of the bar. I assumed mine to be iron like everything else but I should check it more closely- maybe it’s bronze. Would bring bronze account for its lack of rust?
It would be so special if I someday happened upon the weight! Now that you’ve given me the name, I’ll look that up to see how it worked.
If you dig deeper, you might even find the skeletons of earlier residents ! Who knows ? Before you know it, you'll hear them howling at full moon !
Golgotha, You’re scaring me! I’ll be the one howling if I uncover anything like that....but you never know.....
I believe I see a coffin nail or two ...
The grappling hook thing might be a boat anchor? The last object look like a lid lifter and ash shaker from an old wood burning stove.
Fascinating, Eileen! Those finds of yours and mine are reminders that we are just the latest ‘layer’ of human existence on our old planet.....I imagine that someone someday in the far distant time will come across something of ours and wonder about it’s use or the primitive people (us) who left it behind.
you can never have enough old iron .. to make things ,repair things or just fire up the welder and make a work of art....smiling nice post