The study of history through the excavation of discarded items, exploring people's attics, flying drones, and stuff….
Check out the video footage showing the restoration progress of the circa 1770 Byrnside’s Fort, one of the only standing log frontier forts from the Revolutionary War period, located near Union, West Virginia, as of June of 2019:
This log cabin has been used as a barn for a long, long time. But we believe it was a primitive 18th century log cabin dwelling originally. We have to move this structure of the current property, which sits very close to the site of the frontier fort known as Thompson’s Fort – somewhat of a fortified home, located in Pickaway, West Virginia.
Samuel Gwinn is believed to have settled on the Greenbrier River at the same time as his friend James Graham, building a log cabin across the Greenbrier River from Graham, circa 1770. The log cabin is now gone, unlike the Graham cabin, but I did track it down. And there is an old photo of it still standing. Originally this was in Greenbrier County. Then Monroe County…. and finally, Summers County.
Jamestown relics which will hopefully be featured in the Scavengeology Museum…. Pure #Merica. Above all else, I’ve never felt history flow through my veins when holding an object than when holding this sword. What a piece of the past… A little on Jamestown: The Jamestown[1] settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It …
I shot this footage last fall in 4k, but I never properly processed it. Well here it is. I recently found an old print of “The History of Gap Mills Community,” written by C.C. Ballard, so I threw in a few historical tidbits I thought was interesting. That way, it isn’t a complete waste of time to watch the video, since you will technically learn something.
When I originally found this huge iron object at the fort, I first assumed it was a big forged hinge of some sort, or other architectural hardware. After examining it, it’s not a hinge at all, it’s part of a very large fireplace trammel, which would have been used as an adjustable hanger for kettles for cooking in an open fireplace.
Estill Blockhouse. Built 1773. Indian Creek, Monroe County, West Virginia. This is the real thing. One of the coolest structures in all of West Virginia. A stone blockhouse fortified home from the Virginia frontier still standing, in its original location. With a history of Indian attack, and with a legendary frontier family.
We’ve found quite a bit of treasure under the ground at Willowbrook, and quite a bit inside the house as well. This property has seen the entire history of the Greenbrier Valley, from beginning to the present.
One of my first attempts at uploading some of the Facebook videos we did this winter, into one larger video for Youtube. This documents our search for the homesite and grave of James Bryan, my 5th great grandfather – the only paternal grandfather who’s grave I haven’t found. At least back to the first of them to come to America.
This is the famous Houmas House Plantation near New Orleans, Louisiana: Well, it has a deep connection to little ‘ole Union, WV. In Union, Monroe County, West Virginia, are two spectacular antebellum mansions, Elmwood, and Walnut Grove. Did you know that the owners of Walnut Grove also owned the Houmas House Plantation in New Orleans? …
Read moreHoumas House Plantation in NOLA – and its Union, WV Connection