unknown ramblings, maybe?

August 15, 2022

the things I find

The 13 day heat wave we had been experiencing finally broke on Friday (the 12th of August) and I decided to start trimming out some of my holly trees and Crepe Myrtle bushes. And I found this…

I dug it up while trimming around one of my Crepe Myrtles that I transplanted along my property line. Any ideas on what it may have been?

I know it was part of a fence, either a post or railing, but I can’t think what the wire may have been used for…

The red lines show where a roadbed used to be, approximately, about a hundred years ago. Behind me is where the trolly line used to be that ran from Frederick to Braddock Heights, and my neighbors’ farm. The roadbed used to go to the farm from 40…way back when.

When I first started transplanting the holly’s and Crepe Myrtle’s a few years ago I dug up all kinds of stuff…horseshoes, railroad ties, glass, and barbed wire, among other things. I told my dad and he told me that there used to be a roadbed that went through there…the road I live on didn’t get put in until much, much later, probably not until the interstate went in. Or around that time.

Anyway, where I was digging is down closer to the tree line…I didn’t have my cell phone with me when I found what I found as it was on the charger. Otherwise, I would’ve taken a picture of it right then and there.

I also know that the property I live on used to belong to a church – I believe Seventh Day Adventists’. When the interstate went in, their property was divided and the land sat unused for many years, until the family that built this house bought it in 1985, the house being built in 1986. The church was lifted and moved in the 1990’s.

I have a pretty good idea that what I found is or was part of a fence that ran along the roadbed and separated the road from the pasture or was used to mark property lines. I have looked at old maps, but I can’t remember exactly how properties were situated back then, or if the Seventh Day church was there. I imagine that the church was historical, which is why they moved it, instead of tearing it down. The maps I’ve looked at were from the 1940’s.

I just can’t figure out what the wire, cage looking thing would have been used for. I know the wire looks “new”, but I’ve been told that good, galvanized metal/steel lasts practically forever.

Tracing the H and F…here you can see images of the trolley now (where the trolley line ran) and then, Braddock Heights. There are other links for Frederick and other cities/towns as well. I don’t know if any of the black and white images are near where I live or not. Where I live would’ve been farmland back in the days when the trolly ran through, more so than it is today.

Hope you have a great day!
thanks for stopping by!!