Treasure Hunting

Ever wonder why there were so many ghost towns out west, especially in California, Arizona, and Nevada?  A lot of these places are old mining towns that were abandoned when the mines ran dry.  Some of these towns have been recreated to give visitors a feel of what it was like to live in the Old West.  Places like that can be fun to visit, especially if you have children, but I much prefer the ghost towns that have been left alone and abandoned. 

The site Ghost Towns and History of the American West keeps very detailed lists of ghost towns that fit both these categories, abandoned and reconstructed.  One huge plus that I love about this site other than the maps is that it provides information on best time of year to visit, what kind of vehicle you need to get there (if you need 4WD or not), and the state of decay of the location.  Their list for California is so comprehensive that it’s been broken down into two subcategories - Northern California and Southern California.  Within each of those categories, you can choose to view the listings by county.  This is particularly nice if you’re planning a trip and want to try to hit several ghost towns in California that are fairly close together.  There are also some great photographs there for several of the ghost towns - these will give you a feel for if that location is a place that you’d like to visit.

If you’re planning on doing a little treasure hunting during your ghost town explorations, make sure you find out if the site has been designated a national park or historic area first.  While it might be okay to pick up a rock or two at such a place, you won’t be able to do much else.  These areas are protected by the government and a high emphasis is placed on preservation.  So, if your plan for visiting ghost towns is to look for interesting souvenirs, you’re much better off looking for those that are off the beaten path.  

I was perusing the National Bottle Museum web site the other day and came across a very interesting fact. I had no idea that bottle making was the first major industry in the United States. Even more interesting is that machine-made bottles did not come into existence until 1903. After Michael Owens patented his bottle making machine in that year, many still continued to make bottles by hand.

Although there are some notable exceptions, its generally the handmade bottles that are real treasure finds. The great thing about treasure hunting for bottles is that you don’t have to plan a long trip out into the middle of nowhere to do so. (Well, I kinda like going out in the middle of nowhere, but that’s beside the point.) Most people don’t even realize how much old bottle are worth. So, a lot of times, you can find them priced for almost nothing at yard sales or estate auctions.

Another good place to go treasure hunting for bottles is in the attics of old houses. Of course it goes without saying that you’ll need the owner’s permission. But you might be able to cut a deal with a family who owns an old home by offering to clean out their attic or outside storage buildings for them. Be honest with them about what you’re doing. Don’t try to trick anyone. But do try to make a deal up front about how the findings will be split should you find anything.

Don’t forget about ghost towns! Sure, people pour through ghost towns treasure hunting with metal detectors all the time, but most of them are looking for old coins or bits of gold. A lot of times, old bottle are just laying around with a lot of garbage and debris. Some of these bottles may turn out to be rare enough that they’re worth the trouble of gathering even if they do have chips and scrapes.

If you’d like to venture out on your own looking for treasure of some sort, it helps if you have an idea of where to go. Being very familiar with the area you’re traveling to and having some guesses can go a long way in that regard, but what do you do if you don’t have that sort of knowledge?

One thing that you can do is look for ghost towns. These are much more prevalent in the western United States than in other parts of the country because of the transient nature of Old West gold miners.  You can start by visiting known ghost towns, but keep in mine that the more people who know about a place, the less likely you are to find anything of value there.  However, knowing the general location of some ghost towns that have already been found can give you hints as to where others might be located.  Even if you don’t happen to find any interesting souvenirs to bring home, you could still get a lot of pictures out of the trip and have some fun.