About Coolest Digs
Discovering Lost History
Coolest Digs is dedicated to uncovering forgotten history, artifacts, and overlooked stories from across the United States — with a special focus on the Midwest, New England, and the Western mining regions.
Our Mission
What Do We Do?
For the past decade, I have spent countless hours in search of history. Privy digging — the excavation of 19th-century outhouse pits — is my primary means of uncovering these stories. A single privy can hold thousands of artifacts in a small area: bottles, coins, pipes, and everyday objects that reveal the lives of long-gone inhabitants.
The goal of my work is to share, document, and preserve these artifacts before they are destroyed forever. Urban development marches forward at a rate that is impossible to keep up with, and every demolished lot is a chapter of local history lost.
The Process
How Privy Digging Works
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Locating the Privy
Every dig starts with research. Using old fire insurance maps, plat books, and historical photographs, I pinpoint where the original outhouse stood on a property — usually along a back lot line. A steel probe rod confirms the spot by detecting the soft, disturbed soil of the filled-in pit.
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Opening the Excavation
Once located, the hole is opened carefully by hand with shovels. The walls of the pit — often lined with brick, stone, or wood — define the dig and are followed straight down. Sod and topsoil are set aside so the site can be restored exactly as it was found.
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The Fill Layer
When a privy was retired, families filled it with whatever was on hand: ash, brick, soil, and household debris. This upper fill layer can run several feet deep and occasionally holds artifacts of its own, but the real prize lies beneath it.
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The Use Layer
At the bottom sits the use layer — the nightsoil deposited while the privy was in service. This dark, rich stratum is where the bottles, pottery, coins, and personal items went, often discarded in the 1800s and untouched ever since. Each artifact is carefully recovered, cleaned, and documented.
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Filling In
When the dig is complete, every shovelful of soil goes back in the hole. The ground is tamped, leveled, and the sod replaced — leaving the property looking just as it did before we arrived.
Own an Old House or Property?
If your home or land dates to the 1800s, there may be a time capsule buried in your backyard. I handle the research, the digging, and the cleanup — and you get to see history come out of the ground. Reach out and let’s find out what’s under your property.
Contact Me