How old is this? (5 pics imbedded)

[Crabgrass]

Hi guys,
I just registered here from TractorByNet -- great site you've got going! Anyway there's an old house foundation not far from my house. I took a few pics -- how old do you guys think it is? Nobody around here knows much about it anymore, and a similar post on TBN didn't pull much info.

Here's a overview of the foundation. It's not much more than a fireplace anymore. The foundation in the pic is about 20'x20'. There's another 20'x20' section that you can't see because I was standing in it while taking the pic. The tree in it is about 12" in diameter. There's no wood from the construction left whatsoever.




And here's a closeup of the fireplace. The things all over on the hearth are red bricks. The fireplace and foundation are all made of stone so I don't know where the bricks came from. If you look close you can see some nice arch-work above the opening.





This is nearby. I believe it's the cold cellar. It's about 5'x5'. Man I wouldn't trust that roof! If you look close you can see an iron bar holding the roof over the opening. That may help date it.





This is something they build to get water from (I think). It's about 200' feet away and off of a small creek that runs behind the fence.




Here's a closeup of the "well". If you look close at the bottom of the pic you can see it still has water!



So how old do you think it is?

[twstanley]

Ok, I will take a stab at it.

What part of the country do you live in? Being that different areas were settled at different times...

If this is an east coast property I would say the range would be from very late 1700's to early 1900's, right?

The red brick material was probably dumped there later, so we can count that out.

What is the biggest tree growing up from within the foundation? That might give an idea of when the structure collapsed or burned.

From the all stone foundation and fireplace, cold storage cellar and open top cistern or water, I would guess it was built prior to 1900, so maybe mid 1800s?

That is a wild guess I know....haha. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[CowboyUp]

Ya, knowing what part of the country could help date this. It looks a lot like the stone home my friend's grandfather had on his property, dating about the mid 1800s. Those are great pics, by the way. Have you taken a metal detector around the site yet?

[Crabgrass]

Sorry my profile isn't so great yet. I'm in Kentucky north of Lexington. Records indicate the area was first "discovered" in 1751, a fort established in 1790, and the nearest town of Stamping Ground established in 1817. So anything in the 1800s is reasonable. Of course people were pretty poor around here so it may even be from the 1900s. Do they iron bars above the cold cellar ern and fireplace help much?

I'd love to hunt around with a metal detector but I don't own one. The biggest tree really isn't that big. There's a 12" diameter trunk inside the foundation, and maybe 18" around the area. The land around is cleared so these are probably much more recent than the house.

How long does it take wood to completely disappear? There's no trace of anything except rock.

[Chuck52]

What you are calling a well or cistern may be where milk was stored. On my grandfather's place, there was a small building on a creek with ledges built into it so milk cans could be set in the running water. If you explore that structure you may find something similar. My grandfather's place is in east Tennessee, so similar construction is reasonable.

As to the age, you might contact the nearest college with an archaeology program to see if there is anyone capable and interested in dating the structure.

Chuck

[BabblinBrookie]

No idea but squatters is probably out of the question, something as sophisticated had to have a title I'm sure.

[Pat]

There are tree core tools that allow you to take a core sample from a living tree without causing significant damage. This is common practice. The hole left behind is quite small and easily plyugged to avoid any problems. Core it and count the rings. Then you will have a date when the building was so far gone that it would let a tree grow inside its perimeter. The building could be much older than that but you will have limited it from one side.

Metal detectors are handy things for finding pipes, wires, etc. and some are quite innexpensive. I have a small metal detector that I use to scan used wood prior to working it with any tools. I got it through Amazon.com for $15 but the regular retail price is only $20. Harbor Freight also has cheap "treasure hunter" type units as well. I bought one of them for less than half the cost of the lost knife I wanted to find. We lost a small nut in large gravel behind my tractor shed and ran a powerful magnet all around to try to locate it but no joy. I got out the HF metal detector and found it in a few seconds.

If you use a metal detector you may find nails and such that will help bracket the era.

Good luck,

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]