I took this pic about a week ago. It's one of the old county schools, and it dates back to at least 1856, as it's on the plat map for that year. Now it's a private residence.
<center> <img src=http://img358.imageshack.us/img358/3662/oldmccainschoolhouse1zn.jpg> </center> <p>
Be sure to hit that one again, and hit it hard, from multiple angles, and use multiple coils if you have them. Try to come back at a different time of the year, when the soil is really moist, and/or when it's a bit drier (but not so dry that you kill grass. This will ensure that you get the bulk of the goodies.
I've hit five old school locations here in Jackson county. One is now an empty lot, one is now a park, one has the schoolhouse standing, but it a business, and the other two had a building on the property in 1856, but have modern buildings. I've never found any old coins at one of those, and the last one only yielded up one Roosie, and one or two Wheat's.
I've also hit one school that used to be either a HS or a Junior High. Why else would an elementary school have a football field with a track around it, plus a couple other football practice fields? That particular school didn't look all that old, but I started pulling up Wheat's, then silver, like crazy. Got my first Standing Lib quarter there, as well as a Washington, and about a dozen dimes. Go figure?
IMHO, old schools and old churches are where it's at, after private yards. The really, really, old schools might not yield up to much, as the kids wouldn't have needed money for anything back then.
HH from Allen in MI
