That's exciting to dig around Central City. Glad to hear you are into digging too. Dumps can be great but for some reason are very hard to find in the bigger towns. For some reason I have found them off of hills near cemetarys. Perhaps they went to see their loved ones and dumped the trash on a Sunday outting. Most trash was hauled away from the town. Check old gullies. Look for old mining maps. Then match up the old terrain with google earth. If there was a mill, follow ditches that went into it. If there was an abandoned hole you bet trash was thrown in. The problem is people have dump dug for years and its hard to find new spots. Where as outhouses sometimes were paved over and with new construction the ground can be reopened, but these days work is done so fast we hardly get a chance to get in. I was in the middle of a trench the other day here, glass falling out of the walls. I probed a good 3 more feet that this hole went down that the trench digger didnt clear out. I was about to enter bottle heaven.... Lunch was over, the workers came back, and I had to get out. Of this big trench for the footings, they had to start filling in with gravel right where I was! It was painful!!!!

A probe works best to find outhouses through the dirt. Or get an imaging maching like I have but I have near 20 grand in that operation. When you probe around and the ground sinks easily or through the hollow handle when hitting, and scraping glass or pottery, it will bring the noise up to the handle. Many times people put larger trash and rocks on top of the holes to stop the ground from sinking. Once a hole is dug, it keeps settling. look for slight indents in the ground usually 2 to 4 feet wide. Think about where a person might of put the outhouse for easy access at night when they could barely see with the lantern. And think of which way the prevailing winds blow in that area- they might of put the crapper so the smell would blow away from the house. And usually they were located back on the end of the property line, straight back or in a corner. And when the outhouse was getting full, they would dig another hole nearby. Trash was thrown in to even out the ground. Often times it would become a burn pile too. Lime was put in for the smell so when probing check the rod for color changes that are not consistent. Outhouses can be a few feet to usually 6 feet. All depends on the terrain when they were dug. Watch out for old wells though that can be deep and dangerous. Always take a friend if going in a hole. People have died digging bottles from cave ins. Be safe!