Here are a few of
GHOST TOWN
Favorite Treasure Hunting Websites
For ghost town chasing, metal detecting/treasure hunting (TH'ing), prospecting, genealogy, and searching for old towns
your ancestors lived in, as well as lots of other interesting links, these
sites are well worth visiting...There are literally thousands of related
websites out there, and this list is not intended to be all inclusive. These are just a few of the sites I find
interesting. I hope you do too. Please
be advised, there are no Geocaching sites
listed. Happy web surfing!
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If you are either unfamiliar
with, or new to the hobby of treasure hunting/metal detecting, there may be a
few terms you see on these or the linked pages that may seem unfamiliar. In general, most treasure hunters use metal
detectors to search in the ground for lost coins, jewelry or metallic relics. There are MANY facets to this hobby, but the
majority of treasure hunting hobbyists fall into this
category.
Since the early 1960s most
metal detector users have been called treasure hunters, which
was popularly shortened to “TH’ers.” Treasure hunting
was also abbreviated to “TH’ing.” During the past 10-15 years those abbreviated terms have
been mostly replaced by the term “Metal Detectorist.” As time goes on,
even that term is being slowly replaced by “Metal Detector User, or Metal Detector Enthusiast.”
No matter what you want to call
yourself, this is a great hobby, and one that truly can enrich an avid
pursuer. I hope this helps clarify a few
terms not commonly used outside the hobby.
On another note, and
wonderfully appropriate for this section is a nice link I have put up at the
request of a school class. These
future leaders are revamping their classroom website with “new sections, information and fun
stuff for students, teachers, parents, etc.,” and have added some
treasure hunting links. One of them is
Alan Bernau Jr’s site
called “A
Guide to Metal Detecting for Beginners.” I
think it is a great refresher course for all of us in the treasure hunting
field to go back to the basics once in a while and remember,
we all started out as beginners. I want
to thank Ms Ward’s class in Delaware for telling me about this link and hope
you all enjoy it also. Ms. Ward, I hope
all of your students get a chance to “Get Outside” and enjoy this wonderful
hobby. You can even have them toss in a little ghost towning
while you are at it!
General
Sites
Western
& Eastern Treasures Magazine
This is the online home for
the magazine I’ve been writing for since 1980, and has featured my monthly
Ghost Town USA column since April 1984.
It is the how-to magazine of choice for metal detectorists.
Gold Miners
Headquarters – Information Center for Prospectors
In addition to its Internet links, this
international recreational gold mining directory lists over 500 businesses that
do not have an Internet web site! ”This
is the largest directory in the world and a great effort to help our gold
mining community. Please help us help others. Show your support to the Gold
Miner's Headquarters! Miners helping Miners...”
This is the online home for Lost Treasure
Magazine.
“The largest Treasure Hunting Forum and Community on the Internet!
We have discussion forums that cover a wide range of treasure releated topics, from the Shipwrecks to Metal
Detecting. Coins, Gold Prospecting, Techniques, Preservation,
Mapping, Ghost Towns, Stamp Collecting, Fossils and
everything in between.” To
fully access all the site has to offer, you must become a member,
which is free. This site also has a new
mobile app for your iPhone, iPad
or android-based smart device.
This general interest site is a good introduction
to the Treasure Hunting Hobby.
BOTTLES/INSULATORS
Antique Bottles & Bottle Collecting
Glass
Insulators Reference Site
http://hub.webring.org/hub/bottlering
(Lists a lot of Bottle related links)
BRICKS
Historical Bricks
(commercial site)
COINS
EXONUMIA
A connoisseur’s guide to Tokens, medals, buttons,
badges, ribbons, World's Fair, political, Masonic/fraternal, Indian peace
medals and slave tags. If you collect
this type of exonumia, this a great site for
you. Rich Hartzog
also sells hundreds of books to help you identify your finds.
LICENSE PLATES
SEE: Specific page with links to LICENSE
PLATE clubs and collectors.
RELICS
Treasure Hunting Equipment
Manufacturers/Distributors
METAL DETECTOR Manufacturers
Metal detector manufacturer & publisher of my
book, Dust in the Wind
–A Guide to American Ghost Towns.
Metal Detector Manufacturer
Metal Detector Manufacturer
Metal Detector Manufacturer
Metal Detector Manufacturer
Metal Detector Manufacturer
Metal Detector Manufacturer (Manufacturer of the Shadow
Metal Detector)
METAL DETECTOR-PROSPECTING/
GENERAL ACCESSORY dealers
A Sacramento-based, multi-line metal detector
dealership.
Metal detecting accessories.
“Detectors Unlimited is an authorized dealer
carrying all brands of metal detectors including Tesoro, Bounty Hunter,
Garrett,
This multiple-line metal detector also carries a
full line of metal detecting accessories.
(GBS note)
Multi-line metal detectors sales.
Metal detector sales, accessories, books and maps.
WHITE’S metal detector distributor and general
treasure hunting accessories.
Multiple line metal detector “Superstore”
This is an online
“Superstore” featuring all major brands of metal detectors and accessories.
Metal
Detectors of Minneapolis
Multi-line metal detectors sales, accessories,
books, maps, videos, and recovery tools.
Gold prospecting and metal detecting equipment
superstore. Located in
Multi-line metal detectors sales, accessories,
books and maps.
SPECIFIC ACCESSORIES
Optional “Super Coils” for Minelab
metal detectors
Metal detecting HEADPHONES
TRAVEL
Metal Detect in
NATIONAL
FMDAC – Federation of Metal
Detector and Archeological Clubs.
This is a National
organization dedicated to preservation of recreational metal detecting, as well
as protecting the rights of individual metal detectorists. Many local clubs affiliate with this organization.
Kelly Co
links to Metal Detector Clubs
Stout
Standards.com – This is a good list of updated metal
detector clubs with an online presence.
AZ
Arizona Treasures Unlimited, Inc.
Based in the Phoenix area, this active club has
been around since 1970. The club’s
purpose is stated on their site.
“Arizona Treasures Unlimited, Inc. (ATU) is a nonprofit corporation
registered in the state of Arizona to promote the safe and lawful recovery of
lost and abandoned objects through the processes of research, education, and
the distribution of information.”
CA
Club
Prospectors Club of Southern California
“The Prospector's Club
of Southern California is a legally chartered, non-profit corporation -
Dedicated to gold prospecting, metal detecting and treasure hunting.”
Riverside Treasure Hunters
Club
Based in Riverside, this
very active club meets the first Friday of the month at 7 PM at Eldorado Park
Community Center in Upland. It serves treasure hunters located throughout the greater
Inland Empire.
Treasure Hunters
Society of Santa Clara Valley, Inc.
This club is based in San Jose, in the San
Francisco Bay region and has been around since 1976.
West Coast Prospectors &
Treasure Hunters Association
Another
Southern California-based treasure hunting club with a large presence. It is quartered in Garden Grove and is the
parent of the famed West Coasters Rendezvous, a fun three-day organized treasure
Hunt that draws folks from all over.
VA
Northern Virginia Relic Hunters Assoc
“The Northern Virginia Relic Hunters Association (NVRHA), (a non profit organization), was organized to promote the study and preservation of American history through the location, identification and preservation of military and related historical artifacts.”
WA
This
active club operates out of Belfair, WA, which is on the west side of Puget
Sound across from, and southwest of, Seattle.
INTERNATIONAL
World-Wide Association of Treasure Seekers
Based in Texas (USA), WWATS is an international organization “The
Focus of WWATS is to be an information center, providing special training as
necessary to understand our relationships with, and to openly approach, our
government agencies, seeking ways our hobby can co-exist within the rules and
regulations used to govern public lands today. WWATS shall be a proactive
organization, not a reactive one.”
(BOTTLES/INSULATORS)
Clubs
for Antique Bottle Collectors
Los Angeles Historical Bottle Club
Additional links to bottle
sites from the Baltimore Bottle Club
National Insulator
Association
San Jose Antique Bottle
Collectors Association
This
local bottle club is located in San Jose, CA and has been around since 1958.
When I was a college student at San Jose State University back in the early
1970s, I was able to participate in one of their massive bottle digs as a
friend of mine was a member (at that time.)
(BRICKS)
International Brick Collectors Association
(COINS)
American numismatic Association
(EXONUMIA)
National Token Collectors Association
(LICENSE PLATES)
SEE
our specific page with links to LICENSE
PLATES clubs and collectors.
(RELICS)
CA
US Dept of the Interior,
Bureau
of Land Management
Mostly new items, but
current public land information can be found here along with historical
information.
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INDEX TO OTHER LINK PAGES
Links
to various websites and pages are listed in the following categories…
·
General Ghost Town sites
·
Individual States/Provinces
·
Individual Sites
·
History/Travel
·
General Sites
·
Specific Interest Sites
·
Treasure Hunting Equipment
Manufacturers/Distributors
·
General Treasure Hunting
Clubs/Organizations
·
Specific Interest Clubs/Organizations
·
Places to find treasure
·
Government information sources
·
Book publishers/sellers
·
Periodicals
·
Clubs for License Plate Collectors
·
On-Line Collector Buy/Trade & Sell
Forums
·
A few other misc. websites of interest to
license plate collectors
·
General
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LINKS Last
verified: November 28, 2012
Last updated: April 30,
2013
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by Gary B. Speck Publications
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