Hunting Ghost Communities

Ghost communities are similar to ghost towns except they were less populated and lacked businesses. There might have been a merchant or a huckster, a church/meeting house, and may have even been a precinct, but these small communities never reached town status. Buffalo and Elk traces became roads as settlers established these little communities along creeks or rivers with a spring nearby. As railroad and river towns grew, new and improved roads took the place of trails, these little pieces of Americana with a stream down the middle, started to vanish. By 1950 the little hamlets became the subject of stories told by old men whittling on a bench in front of the store or under a shade tree in town. Trees and weeds took over where gardens, orchards, pecan and walnut groves once flourished and fed the small communities.
To find these ghost communities all one has to do is pull over along the highways and interstates, look across the field to find a woods, or follow a creek. If you look or follow far enough the monuments of these old ghosts will appear out of nowhere, left behind for electric bills and the finer things.
Ghost communities can prove to be quiet challenging for metal detecting. The summer finds them grown over, snake, spider, tick, chigger and wildcat infested so be careful and stay alert. Just as they can be a challenge, they can be very rewarding with relics, bottles, coins and caches waiting to be claimed.
May all of your trails be smooth and your treasure sites many.
Best Wishes and Good Hunting