PittsburghMarbles Posted September 1, 2021 Report Share Posted September 1, 2021 How many of you go out and dig for marbles? Ive been digging for bottles for nearly 12 years now, started when I was a sophomore in college after I found a hutchinson bottle in a creek side. Been obsessed with glass ever since. Just started specifically looking for marbles while digging in the past year and a half or so. It takes so much searching along creek banks and public waterways to find dumps. These are just some of the dumps Ive found and have been digging in since the new year. Once Im done, I backfill the dumps to not leave holes and I always find out who the landowner is to get permission; sometimes I don't get it and that really sucks. Anyways, here's some of the dumps I've found since the New Year and some of the finds. Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr I love digging, its like nothing else, finding a marble or a bottle thats been in the ground for 50-160 years and knowing the last person that touched it was someone living during that time period. Most of my marbles I have displayed are jar or marble show buys; as most that come out of the ground are obviously going to be damaged from play or when they burned the town dumps, but occasionally I find an exception undamaged marble, like that akro silver oxblood above and others. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fire1981 Posted September 1, 2021 Report Share Posted September 1, 2021 That is just ridiculous. I’d sleep in a tent right next to that one. Diggers Dream. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Posted September 1, 2021 Report Share Posted September 1, 2021 That's awesome 👌. How fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PittsburghMarbles Posted September 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2021 ^^ I just found a dump last weekend that had loads of 1870s-1950s bottle shards all over the surface. It’s def been dug in before and probably extensively as nearly everything I found was disturbed but I looked on historic maps at the courthouse and it’s an old town dump around here that dates from the 1860s-1950s (dumps were sometimes known as commons on old maps, that’s how I found it) and it’s almost a mile long according to Sanborn maps from 1898. So I’ll have to poke around as most bottle diggers are only after pre 1910s stuff and usually discard anything post 1920 and since it was used until the 50s and probably early 1960s, there’s gotta be loads of marbles that previous bottle diggers wouldn’t have given two craps about or known to look for. I found a couple really nice pipes and smaller pre 1910 local medicine bottles while I was there and I think I found an undug area after digging about a 30ft test pit but will have to excavate further to make sure. Will bring my siv this weekend when I go back to find marbles too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvrons Posted September 1, 2021 Report Share Posted September 1, 2021 As most know, I have been digging marbles for twenty five years in WV, OH, and MO. There were pictures posted here of many past years of digging marbles. It can be fun, exciting, time, money, work and lots of effort. Then after they are dug the work begins again cleaning them. None of them are free. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PittsburghMarbles Posted September 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2021 ^ i sure wish I could have dug at Heaton. Now it seems like no marble factory sites will ever be able to be dug again and or they are all already pretty much dug out. I see Ron Shepherd, met the guy a couple of times at marble shows this year. He knows everything about swirls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad G. Posted September 1, 2021 Report Share Posted September 1, 2021 All the dumps around here are strictly off limits, about the only place left to go that isn't gated off is the beach "0" mibs there, maybe an arrowhead if the dredge hasn't buried it in 40 feet of sand ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad G. Posted September 1, 2021 Report Share Posted September 1, 2021 47 minutes ago, wvrons said: As most know, I have been digging marbles for twenty five years in WV, OH, and MO. There were pictures posted here of many past years of digging marbles. It can be fun, exciting, time, money, work and lots of effort. Then after they are dug the work begins again cleaning them. None of them are free. Thanks for posting the pix Ron, good friends & good times !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladys Posted September 1, 2021 Report Share Posted September 1, 2021 15 hours ago, PittsburghMarbles said: How many of you go out and dig for marbles? Ive been digging for bottles for nearly 12 years now, started when I was a sophomore in college after I found a hutchinson bottle in a creek side. Been obsessed with glass ever since. Just started specifically looking for marbles while digging in the past year and a half or so. It takes so much searching along creek banks and public waterways to find dumps. These are just some of the dumps Ive found and have been digging in since the new year. Once Im done, I backfill the dumps to not leave holes and I always find out who the landowner is to get permission; sometimes I don't get it and that really sucks. Anyways, here's some of the dumps I've found since the New Year and some of the finds. Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr Untitled by Pittsburgh Marbles, on Flickr I love digging, its like nothing else, finding a marble or a bottle thats been in the ground for 50-160 years and knowing the last person that touched it was someone living during that time period. Most of my marbles I have displayed are jar or marble show buys; as most that come out of the ground are obviously going to be damaged from play or when they burned the town dumps, but occasionally I find an exception undamaged marble, like that akro silver oxblood above and others. WOW!! so exciting!! how do you go about finding old dump sites? where to start? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PittsburghMarbles Posted September 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2021 ^ Walking creeks and hillsides, looking for glass shards and then find their source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akroorka Posted September 2, 2021 Report Share Posted September 2, 2021 Thanks for all of the images Pittsburgh. I would hate to arm wrestle you--lol. Nothing like getting back to nature and enjoying the ground below as well. I 'll bet that it is a very peaceful venture that you enjoy. Dig--On!!! and back to nature--on as well!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now