I've been driving by an area for 8 months now that has always made me wonder what's there. There used to be homes there at one time, but they're gone now. I'm not sure when the homes were razed, but it might have happened as early as the 1920's, in the Tulsa Race Riot. This "ghost neighborhood" still has streets, sidewalks, the start of driveways, and sometimes even stairs leading up to the "yard", but no buildings. It goes on for blocks and blocks.
Here's a good example. At the top of the hill, the road is actually blocked off, and the ground drops away 15' to a newer road that was cut right through the hill. You can see the sidewalk on the left. The fenced-off area is actually the original road.
<center><img src=http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/9136/ghostneighborhood1nb2.jpg></center><p>
Here's the original road in better detail:
<center><img src=http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/4786/ghostneighborhood2hq7.jpg></center><p>
And a stairway leading to nowhere:
<center><img src=http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/3918/ghostneighborhood3pr1.jpg></center><p>
This large, empty lot shows a lot of what's there. That particular lot is about the size of a football field. There's a brick retaining wall that has started to come down. Arrow #1 marks a level area that's kind of hard to see in this pic. There used to be a house there. Arrow #2 marks another, larger, level area that had at least two homes on it.
<center><img src=http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/5885/ghostneighborhood4mb1.jpg></center><p>
I didn't have but 10 - 15 minutes to look around, so I didn't even pull my detector out. I did manage to eyeball this:
<center><img src=http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/6670/golfegg1hl1.jpg></center><p>
I'm not terribly surprised to find it, as the country club I work at is about 1/2 a mile away, and this area is/was used by homeless folks as a "hangout". You can see the signs everywhere; old, rotted clothing, lots of beer bottles, liquor bottles, screwcaps, etc. The City has come through and cleared a lot of the underbrush and smaller trees, hoping to keep the homeless out of this area.
I have taken my detector through here, once, but didn't find anything except a modern penny. Of course, I didn't have but about 20 minutes to scout it out. I did find a couple of marked bricks. One is from Coffeyville, KS. The other, I can't make out all the lettering, as there is still some mortar covering that part of the brick. If it's from a town and marked "IT" for Indian Territory, it could be worth a bit. This area is definitely old enough. I'd really like to find some "IT" tokens, as those would be worth more than some older silver coins.
Disclaimer: My images may not show due to bandwidth limitations. If they are not visible, check back at a later time.
HH from Allen in OK
Here's a good example. At the top of the hill, the road is actually blocked off, and the ground drops away 15' to a newer road that was cut right through the hill. You can see the sidewalk on the left. The fenced-off area is actually the original road.
<center><img src=http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/9136/ghostneighborhood1nb2.jpg></center><p>
Here's the original road in better detail:
<center><img src=http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/4786/ghostneighborhood2hq7.jpg></center><p>
And a stairway leading to nowhere:
<center><img src=http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/3918/ghostneighborhood3pr1.jpg></center><p>
This large, empty lot shows a lot of what's there. That particular lot is about the size of a football field. There's a brick retaining wall that has started to come down. Arrow #1 marks a level area that's kind of hard to see in this pic. There used to be a house there. Arrow #2 marks another, larger, level area that had at least two homes on it.
<center><img src=http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/5885/ghostneighborhood4mb1.jpg></center><p>
I didn't have but 10 - 15 minutes to look around, so I didn't even pull my detector out. I did manage to eyeball this:
<center><img src=http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/6670/golfegg1hl1.jpg></center><p>
I'm not terribly surprised to find it, as the country club I work at is about 1/2 a mile away, and this area is/was used by homeless folks as a "hangout". You can see the signs everywhere; old, rotted clothing, lots of beer bottles, liquor bottles, screwcaps, etc. The City has come through and cleared a lot of the underbrush and smaller trees, hoping to keep the homeless out of this area.
I have taken my detector through here, once, but didn't find anything except a modern penny. Of course, I didn't have but about 20 minutes to scout it out. I did find a couple of marked bricks. One is from Coffeyville, KS. The other, I can't make out all the lettering, as there is still some mortar covering that part of the brick. If it's from a town and marked "IT" for Indian Territory, it could be worth a bit. This area is definitely old enough. I'd really like to find some "IT" tokens, as those would be worth more than some older silver coins.
Disclaimer: My images may not show due to bandwidth limitations. If they are not visible, check back at a later time.
HH from Allen in OK
