SEARCH AND FIND: Geocaching isn’t the only outdoor activity across the region. Metal detecting is also a popular activity.
And members of one locally based group, Dirt Diggin PA can often be seen looking for hidden treasures around Cameron and McKean counties –– and elsewhere across Pennsylvania and the United States.
Venturing out to find artifacts helps these folks unearth history.
“One of the most important task of metal detecting is to find relics and try to collect evidence to discover what the people of a particular area were like,” said local metal detector and Dirt Diggin PA official Wendy Davis. “What clues did they leave behind…small pieces of their lives.”
One such treasure-hunting spot is in Clermont, McKean County, which has historic roots back to 1809. Clermont was a coal mining community, with farming, railroad and later supported by an industry of clay mining and the Clermont Tile Co. production of Sewer Pipe.
Time was likely pretty important to the people of Clermont. In the past, a pocket watch, pieces of a watch assembly and a few bells were found in that hamlet. The evidence left behind, hidden by brush, leaves and earth, tell us a lot about the people of Clermont.
“They weren’t unlike other folks of rural Pennsylvania,” Davis said. “They were social people. The love of music and the ability to learn a skill, such as playing a harmonica, was invaluable part of the life in Clermont.”
WHAT ELSE: What if you’re not into metal detecting or historical research? Why not dive into family lineage?
The internet has put more information into our hands than generations past may have ever believed possible. On the popular genealogy site Ancestry.com, for example, suggestions pop up with a potential relative’s name or further information about a loved one, which can then populate the family tree even further.
In addition to knowing just who is in a family, tracing genealogy also can present a bigger picture of relatives’ occupations and military history, and may even shed light on their travel histories.
Family genealogy websites can provide fascinating windows into our family histories.
