Okay, here’s my blog post about locating an old well on my property, written from my personal experience:
So, I bought this old farmhouse a while back, and the previous owner mentioned something about an old well somewhere on the property. Didn’t think much of it at first, but then I got to thinking about having a backup water source. Plus, a little bit of history right in my backyard? Cool!
First thing I did was just walk around. I mean, it sounds dumb, but you gotta start somewhere, right? I spent a good afternoon just poking around, looking for anything that looked like a covered-up well. Depressions in the ground, a circle of stones, anything out of the ordinary.
Digging Through Old Documents
No luck with the walking. So, next, I hit the paperwork. I dug out all the old property deeds and surveys I got when I bought the place. Some of these things were ancient! I spent hours poring over them, looking for any mention of a well, a water source, anything like that.
- Scanned the documents for the word, well.
- check out the location description.
Bingo! One of the older surveys had a little mark that said “possible well location.” It wasn’t super precise, but it gave me a general area to focus on, narrowed it down to about a quarter of an acre.
Calling in the Pros (Sort Of)
Okay, so I had a rough idea where to look. I thought to get a professional team to help me. It turned out a huge cost. So I gave up the professional way.
- Give up expensive methods
- Found metal defector from store.
My buddy has one of those metal detectors, the kind people use to find coins on the beach. Figured it was worth a shot! We spent a Saturday afternoon sweeping the area the survey had indicated. It was slow going, and we got a lot of false positives – old nails, bits of scrap metal, you name it.
Then, finally, we got a strong signal near an old, overgrown patch of lilac bushes. The detector went crazy! We started digging, carefully at first, and sure enough, we hit stones. Big, round stones arranged in a circle.
Uncovering the Past
It took a lot more digging, and some serious sweat, but we eventually uncovered the top of the old well. It was covered with a thick layer of dirt and roots, but the stone lining was still mostly intact. Pretty amazing!
Now, I’m not planning on using the well for drinking water without getting it properly inspected and tested, of course. But just finding it, uncovering that bit of history, was a real thrill. It’s like connecting with the people who lived on this land generations ago.
So, that’s my well-finding adventure! It took some patience, some digging through old papers, and a little bit of luck, but it was definitely worth it.
