Lake Treasure

[kozakgar]

Yes, she found these all diving in the lake. Please tell us the story on the round bottoms.

[kozakgar]

WSCONNER, is Smith Point the one in West Alton?

[Winnipesaukee Divers]

As an avid treasure hunters on the lake there certain items that are coveted; such as, clay tavern pipes, the best finds are ones fully intact, but even better are ones with fancy art work molded into the bowl (more on them later). The Round Bottom bottles with a blob top, the more imperfections the better (earlier date) are the second most coveted. However, the top of the list is are "Clay Rum" bottles from the ill-fated horse barge disaster back in 1796, where the King's shipment of rum to Montreal went down in a squall off the entrance to Alton Bay. Normally, clay bottles aren't worth much because there is no way to date them since the same manufacturing techniques are used today. Except these bottles have the King's tax tamp embossed onto them with the date.

The significance of the Round Bottom bottles is that they were used for a very specific purpose at narrow date in history. In the glass making process from the late 1700s to the mid 1800s a key ingredient was needed, a type of sodium. At that time the only place to get sodium was in a mine in Glasgow Scotland, but to get it here required special handling. Exposed sodium to water and it becomes very unstable (it explodes), so they build very heavy bottles, corked and bailed them. They also used a round bottom so can't stand up and let the cork dry out. In order to keep the bottles safe they would store them in the lowest part of the ship and pack them in as tight as they could, hence the term "Ballast Bottle". Ever wonder why so many ships sank making the voyage to the new world? They blew up during bad storm at sea if just one bottle broke.

There was a glass shop in Wolfeboro, located on the water front near WCYC back in this time period. Of course you heard me say this before: "I love diving the lake because; there has been 300 years of civilization on the lake. The first 250 years it was the dump; take your trash out on the ice, come spring and it's gone. Fast forward to today and all that's left ate the artifacts". These bottles had very little use once the contents were used so they were discarded into the lake, the dump. I guess they never thought about recycling them, like throwing them back into the forge and melt them down into new bottles. These bottles could get air trap in them and float all around the lake or used for other purposes and discarded elsewhere.

Before you scientific types go off the deep end... These bottles were named "sodi" bottles , I took that to mean sodium, but perhaps it's another similar sounding element. Maybe you can clarify it for me, after all, I'm just a bottom dweller.

[Grant]

kozakgar: The tall bottle in the middle -- some whisky company out of Boston? Looks like a bottle I found on a dive a few years ago.

So far this year, this one is my favorite. "NH Spring Water Co. The Weirs, NH"

Cap'n Pat says he found the same one recently.

[Grant]

Here's a cool little bottle with embossed measurements on the side. Apple used for size reference. Found on a dive near Hawk's Nest Island.

[Rattlesnake Gal]

Great stuff!!!



I found this bottle wedged under a rock at the end of our dock. Sometimes the natural stuff is worth retrieving also.

My son and I found a very interesting slice of stump that now resides in the camp, along with a piece of driftwood that looks like steer horns.

[wsconner]

When we found the bottle (prior post) we noticed that there were two plates wedged under some ledge. We had a chance to go back and spend some time retrieving them. Unfortunately they were so wedged under rock we broke one of them in the process. Additionally, we showed the bottle to another expert (in person) and he dated to 1830-1840's. Have to believe these items are a set. This lake is amazing...

[scubajay1153]

Most of my finds are from the "smaller" lakes...I will have to post pics of some of the cooler looking ones to see if someone can give info or a date to them!

[Rattlesnake Gal]

A few years ago, a guest snorkeling at our place came up with what we think is an arrowhead. It was in about five feet of water. Happily Miles let us keep it. Good guy.



Note: This picture is multiple shots of the same arrowhead to show it's many features.

[RailroadJoe]

Arrow head or spear head. Depends on the size.

[kozakgar]

Here is the latest find my daughter found near Smith Point.

Rattlesake Gal, I like the arrowhead. I guess we better take a second look at small rocks when diving.

[kozakgar]

What a day today, Oct 9 and it was like July on the lake. Pic of daughter bottle hunting in Alton today. A couple good finds, will post when cleaned up.

[kozakgar]

Alton finds yesterday, 1 CASSIDY & Co. Rochester NH, 2 N.H. Gilbert, Somerset NH, and 3 a small Virginia Dare extract bottle. My daughter found all 3, me zero. Must be my old eyes.

[SIKSUKR]

Those are great finds. Nice looking bottles.

[scubajay1153]

Very nice finds!
I have been poking around Rum Point without finding anything. Have to tell the wife I need to buy a boat access more intriguing dive sites such as off the Winni Pier....sigh.

[Jonas Pilot]

Great thread all. Thanks for sharing.

[bclaker]

Originally Posted by scubajay1153

Very nice finds!
I have been poking around Rum Point without finding anything. Have to tell the wife I need to buy a boat access more intriguing dive sites such as off the Winni Pier....sigh.

Some of the opening days of the salmon season I can remember gusts of wind taking lawn chairs, cell phones etc. off the Mount Washington dock at Alton Bay. I lost my hat, but was able to recover it.

[kozakgar]

Thanks everyone. The best part of seeing my daughter find these little tokens is that many years down the road she will look at each item and it will take her back down memory lane when , where, and with who she discovered these. I have many of those kind of items around my home, and each one takes me back in time to re-live those fun and great moments in life. It is her turn to start collecting those memories.

[SIKSUKR]

Originally Posted by kozakgar

Alton finds yesterday, 1 CASSIDY & Co. Rochester NH, 2 N.H. Gilbert, Somerset NH, and 3 a small Virginia Dare extract bottle. My daughter found all 3, me zero. Must be my old eyes.

I think you're right on your eyes. That one bottle is embossed Somersworth NH and not Somerset.

[kozakgar]

Siksukr You are correct, confirms my suspicion

[scubajay1153]

Found a bottle marked with the "Not for..." post prohibition warning today of Ahern Park. Also found a neat old clay pipe from Glascow, Scotland like we used to find in the Piscataqua River in Portsmouth. Going to have to do some more resaerch on the pipes to figure out how old they are.

[kozakgar]

scubajay1153, please post pictures, would like to really to see. Thanks

[ScubaBrian]

Originally Posted by Winnipesaukee Divers

As an avid treasure hunters on the lake there certain items that are coveted; such as, clay tavern pipes, the best finds are ones fully intact, but even better are ones with fancy art work molded into the bowl (more on them later).

Could you tell me more about these pipes with the art work? I found one in Wolfeboror Bay...

Thanks!