How To Find Old Town Dumps

[jimmyjiver]

Hi, Does Anyone Have Any Suggestions On How To Locate Town Dumps Or Rural Dumps From The 1800's Or Early 1900's...The Dumps From 30's On Up Are Easy Find. I Have Never Found An Old Dump Yet. I Have Researched Until I'm Blue In The Face! Is There A Cover Up Or A Bottle Conspiracy? I Have Talked To City Officals,Old Timers Etc. And They All Act Like Zombies. It's Like They Just Clam Up About The Whole Issue.(Area 51?). It Seems To Me Like There Should Of Been A Map Showing The Location Of The Dumps Somewhere.. I Have Looked At Sanborn Maps And Old Atlases Etc. Covering Four Different Counties And Have Never Seen A Dump Indicated On Any Of Them Anywhere.. Has Anyone Ever Seen A Dump Indicated On A Map? If Your Answer Is No Then It Is A Coverup..If You Answered Yes Then Post A Picture So I Can See What One Looks Like. I Am Going To Keep Banging My Head Until I Get A Suitable Answer! .......Thanks

[Buster]

Not sure on this one, bet Pappy would have an answer...Buster......

[jimmyjiver]

Hi, Sounds Good...Thanks For The Reply

[DougsGraphics]

If you figure it out, let me know. I've been looking at this old 1890's mining camp and tring to figure out just where to look for bottles, as I know they went through a lot of them! I did find some cool broken pieces of glass here and there, but I know there's more... much more waiting there to be pulled out! I expect I need to find where the darn outhouses were, but with no pics of the place to be found it might be pretty tough. I'd love some hints from folks as to where to start looking!

[PAPPY]

JIMMY, Check with the court house and see what type documents they have for that period ( Usually found in the Deeds Office) and look to see what you can find on the old land deeds...Takes time I know but it pays off in the long run...Especially Town owned property. You also have to keep in mind that during the 17-1800's people did not use land fills as we do today...They disposed of their trash on their property.

[jimmyjiver]

Hi, I Have Tried The Court House And The People There Were Very Rude And Totally Negative About The Issue..I Know Landfills (not dumps) Did Not Really Start Untill During The War (40's) When Army Troops Buried Their Trash In The Ground Providing The Initial Idea For The Sanitary Landfill. The Idea And History Of Town Dumps Go Way Back To 500 B.C. When The City Of Athens Organizes The First Municipal Dump In The Western World And Citizens Are Required To Dispose Of Their Waste At Least One Mile From The City Walls. Trust Me I Have Done Alot Of Research On This Subject. I Truly Believe That I Have Narrowed Down Where People Would Of Had A Dump And Why They Picked A Certain Location Over Another One.. But I'm Still Wondering Why These Locations Were Never Indicated On Any Map That I Have Ever Seen.. Thanks

[MinelabMan]

Are you sure there were public dumps that early, I know in my neighborhood, people used to bury thinks that didn't burn on their property, I found several neat things in my back yard.

[jimmyjiver]

Hi, The Research I Have Done Shows Town Dumps That Early. If You Find That Piece Of Information Hard To Swallow. Try This In 6,500 BC North America Archeological Studies Shows A Clan Of Native Americans In What Is Now Colorado Produced An Average Of 5.3 Pounds Of Waste A Day. I Can Only Report What I Read And Have No Way Of Backing Up My Information.. Yeah I Agree People Really Buried Alot Stuff Around Here.. I Have Even Found Parts Of Pistols,Shotguns.. I Can Not See Myself Throwing Away Something Like That.. Go Figure...Out Of Sight Out Of Mind.. Thanks

[gordiesgirl]

Try also Topographical maps from the early days and also to date compare maps to see what was on the old that is not on the new. You can buy them or down load them for free at

USGS Store Good Luck

[jimmyjiver]

Hi, Thank You Very Much For Your Input GG.. I Have Topographic Maps Plus Many Many More Maps From 1822 On Up.. What I Don't Have Is Dump Locations On Any Maps..I Guess It Was And Still Is A Cover Up Or Bottle Conspiracy.. Something That Is Almost As Rare As Finding 1800's Dumps Is Pictures Of 1800's Dumps.. But I Guess When You Think About It, Nobody Really Wanted To Load Up The Family And Head To the Town Dump For A Kodak Moment.. Thanks