history of a military prison ..Melville Island (circa 1820)

[leslie(nova scotia)]

From the land of the Bluenose....Melville Island now houses the Armdale Yacht Club but was once a military prison that dates back to the early 1800s. French POWS were once housed here and were allowed free passage into the local community to sell handicrafts to supplement their "income" so that they could purchase extra food and neccessities. The island still has parts of the original walls standing that are topped with mortered in broken glass to help prevent escapes. I have had permission in the past to detect on the island with little success due to all the fill, boats and scrap metals that are in abundance around the island.
Across, to the south is Dead Man's Island (left side of photo) which has been the site of a few "Archie" digs as soldiers from all wars of the period were supposedly buried there. Great place (other then the grave areas which I will never do) to dig musket balls as it is clear that at one time the garrison at the prison used that side of the island for target practise. It is now turned into a cozy little park that affords a nice view of the Northwest Arm looking south towards the Dingle. From this island there is a path that was heavily used and I have found colonial and French buttons on as well as everything else. Part of the path is now encompassed in developement while the rest of it is a perilous journey now as trees are uprooted and clutter the path as left by Hurrican Juan.

As a child I lived in this area for a while and recall that we used to catch fish from the wharfs that we sold to the local fish and chip shop as well as pick mussels which we took home boiled and ate. Now the whole Northwest Arm is polluted so bad that warnings about even entering the water are posted in various spots. Nova Scotia politicans have spent millions on studies to clean up the harbour but as of yet nothing has been done with the situation getting worse as is the smell from the daily dumping of raw sewage into Halifax Harbour.

Can't get the photo to load so check next messagefor link!

[leslie(nova scotia)]

From the land of the Bluenose...hereis the phot taken this winterof the island.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/4...108AcM2bhk4ZN2

[robzombie852]

there is a cival war prison camp called Andersonville with parts still standing in georgia. i have heard you can detect certain parts. this place was amazingly brutal for the prisoners i just read a book on it called "this was Andersonville" it was writen by one of the few prisoners that made it out. i recommend to anyone who comes across this book to read it.doea anyone live neer this place? if so can you really detect there?

[PAPPY]

ERIC, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO DETECTING AT ANDERSONVILLE....PAPPY

[robzombie852]

oh ok. have you ever been there or read the book? very amazing huh? what about gettysburg? i also heard you could detect parts there.

[PAPPY]

ERIC, I have read the book you read and several others concerning Andersonville. It was a terrible place. Some of the property around Gettysburg is Privately Owned and some of the owners allow detecting on their property...PAPPY

[leslie(nova scotia)]

From the land of the Bluenose...I recall seeing a movie about the Andersonville prison...was brutal!

[Gregory]

I would like to read that book, I'll check the book stores.

[robzombie852]

its a huge book greg. like an encyclopedia. look andersonville prison up on google or yahoo. they turned the grounds into a museum and have pics of finds from a bunch of digs they did.