Unusual pictures and structure

[Catfish Fever]

Here's some pics of what we believe to be an old well that was dug and hand lined with field stone some time ago. It's a free standing structure on the shore of Milford Lake. It was probably dug before the river was dammed and flooded the area. We were scouting this area in the Toon on the way back to Wakefield, we planned on shore fishing there tomorrow due to the weather forecast, heavy winds. It's hard to believe this thing has survived the storms that have moved thru this area in past years, to include the flooding in 93. No telling how much deeper this goes as the old river channel is quite a ways from the current shore line. It's probably 18/20 feet high, and 6/8 feet in diameter. Really a unique looking structure. Here's some pics I took, I'll take some more from above it tomorrow when we get there. The black line to the right of the structure look like old water lines that were probably attached to the pump. We plan on looking to see if there may be signs of a windmill in the area. There doesn't appear to be any dirt behind it, except near the bottom where some of the bank has collapsed.

[JayGonefishing]

What a find, Thanks for sharing.

[balddaddy91]

Great Pics Thanks For Sharing

[BAM]

What a story the history would make, thanks for sharing.

[FishMan]

thats pretty cool

[Pennsylvaniacatchaser]

Looks like whoever built it put a lot of time and hard work into it. It would be great to find out the history behind it!

[H2O Mellon]

Maybe send a pic of it to the chamber of commerce, but then again that might make more people come to your fishing spot, but the chamber may be able to find info on it.

[BIG-G]

Now that is wild! THANX JIM!

[kspor]

The oldtimers really built things to last. Wonder why that thing still looks great and is probably well over 100 and yet our homes, bridges, etc need so much care to last just a decade or two. I have seen stone lined wells like that one in many parts of Kansas. I cant imagine digging that thing by hand. I have dug dry wells at 8 and 12' deep with post hole diggers, but that thing is impressive. The rocks alone would have been a major amount of work. Some pioneer was very skilled and determined.

There is a great book on Pioneer life called, "Sod and Stubble." If you get some time its a great read. My family homesteaded in Kansas in the late 1800's. The book is much like the stories my grandfather told.

[Ace]

I enjoyed the photo`s keep us up to date.

:cat:

[cook]

cool pic,sure it isn't an early version of a minuteman silo;)

[Netmanjack]

Keep an eye on it. If it ever falls over that would be theee place to have a mettle detector! No telling what you could find.:D Maybe even a skeleton :eek: But for sure some old coinage.

[center12]

Good stuff Jim. got to be a homestead aroune there somewhere. The metal detector idea would be neat.

[Chris]

The property that I used to live on in Bucyrus, Kansas, there is a well that was built out of stone like the one in the picture. The best of my knowledge its about 35 feet deep, I found the depth by tying a sinker on my fishing pole and then let the sink go until it stoped, marked the line at the top of the water and then measured it out. When I found the well it was wide open it was about 48 in across. I took some railroad ties and sealed the top and marked it with orange flags.

Chris

[Calvin]

Those are amazing pictures Jim. Its too bad it can't talk. I'll bet it has some interesting stories to tell. Imagine all the back breaking work that went into hand digging and lining it with native limestone. I'm sure it never once crossed anyone's mind that someday it would stand exposed like this on the banks of a lake. There are thousands of those old wells scattered throughout the state. I'll bet that's the ONLY one exposed like that! I'd like to see it when I come up.

[bigfish]

thats a cool picture. i agree with the metal detector idea also.

[center12]

Sorry about the typo's in my first post, worked nights and can't spell:p .

Your right Calvin, "if walls could talk". Would love to know the stories behind some of those old abandoned farmsteads out in the flinthills. I always get a sad feeling when I see those old places, you know someone shed blood and tears on that place and it ended up abandoned. Would love to know the story about those that tried to make a go of those places.

[center12]

Oh yeah, I'd also like to see it when I come and fish with you this summer Jim:)

[tanner]

i love history...and would love to be able to explore that area more!! :)

[RiverratSC]

Thats pretty neat to see. Thanks for sharing.

[Fishgeek]

That's wicked cool Jim!!! Amazing that its still standing like it is with basically no earth to support it. Will it be under water once they close the gates to bring the reservoir up to summer pool?

[RamRod]

Thanks for sharing Jim, that's a nice find!

[r_bray89]

thats pretty cool and hope that it stays up for years to come and more people can enjoy it just like you did.

[ShilohRed]

Nice picture.
WE have one here that is lined with cypress. And you can see the sq boarded well when the water is low.
Pete

[Catfish Fever]

You are all very welcome for you comments, it's sure my pleasure to be able to have had the good fortune to find some thing like this and be able to share it with everyone.

[Catfish Fever]

Bryan(H20mellon), I doubt there'd be any record of this any where. Some of the artifacts we found were not much more than a glob of rust, but still recognizable, hubs from old metal wheels, sickle blades, etc. Judging from the condition of the little bit of foundation we found, it's been a loooooong time ago since anyone lived here.

[Catfish Fever]

Jack, a MD would be a great idea, even without it though, there are all kinds of metal objects laying around, some just barely covered with dirt. This is an often frequented site, judging by the garbage laying around. None of the artifacts have been pulled up or disturbed as far as we could tell. I doubt very seriously that the folks who fish here even realize what's over the bank, which is well overhung. I took some pics from the top today, I'll post them tomorrow, and I had to be careful as there's not much more than a foot or two of soil at the edge, then about a 20' or so drop down to the lake. I took a picture of the well head that's laying in the water at the base of this bluff, along with some pipe that probably was connected to it. You can see the water lines coming out of the side of the hill that I'm sure were fed by the pump on the well. It's just fantastic all the stuff laying around here. We'll be going back in the next couple of days.

[Catfish Fever]

Calvin and Charlie, we'll sure go take a look at it from the land side and the water side both, looking forward to seeing you both again. It's been awhile Charlie, looking forward to fishing with you again. Calvin, hoping we'll have better luck than we did last time too. I'll get the rest of those pics, the ones I took today, posted tomorrow.

[Calvin]

I'm looking forward to it Jim. Even if we don't get a bite I'll bet we'll have a good time.

[MealsOnReels]

Thanks for the pictures Jim. We have been all around the lake several times but never noticed anything like that before. Guess I should pay more attention to the scenery instead of watching my rod.

[Catfish Fever]

Jim, thank you, the only reason we were lucky enough to find it, is we had checked out that area the day before to do some shore fishing. We didn't see it then because of the high bank. So on the way back to Wakefield from Madison Creek we thought we'd go by and see what depth of water we'd be fishing in, and there it was, Just a lucky find. I took more pictures the next day when we fished there, I'm going to post them in this thread in a little bit, have to size them first.

[Kevin]

thats prety cool man

[600lbs]

thats cool to find history

[Catfish Fever]

kevin and Christopher, thank you.