Brian Kesterson of the 35th State Relic Hunters appeared before the Wood County Commission on Thursday to present their findings of a search they conducted at Fort Boreman Park recently. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

PARKERSBURG — A group who hunted relics over the past few months on Fort Boreman Hill presented their findings to the Wood County Commission on Thursday.

Brian Kesterson of the 35th State Relic Hunters appeared before the commission to present their findings.

Some of the items included .58-Caliber bullets (circa 1840s-1860s), some Williams Cleanout bullets, some Buck Balls, a .48 Caliber Revolver Ball and pieces of a pocket watch believed to be from the early 1800s from Liverpool England. They also found part of a ration bone, something soldiers in the Civil War were given when stationed in the area.

“These are some pretty decent recoveries from that area,” Kesterson said.

They also found what is believed to be a 1960’s era Boy Scout mess kit with the initials “R.B.” on it as well as M1 Garand Clips and cartridges from the 4th U.S. Marines and 1092nd Engineers who did training up on Fort Boreman Hill prior to the Vietnam War.

Items found by the 35th State Relic Hunters during a recent search done at an area of Fort Boreman Park where some playground equipment had been removed. Some of the items found included .58-Caliber bullets (circa 1840s-1860s), some Williams Cleanout bullets, some Buck Balls, a .48 Caliber Revolver Ball and pieces of a pocket watch believed to be from the early 1800s from Liverpool, England. They also found part of a ration bone, something soldiers in the Civil War were given when stationed in the area. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

They also found some broken horse and mule shoes.

All of the finds come from four metal detecting ventures at that area of the park which Kesterson described as “a very small area.” They spent two to two and a half hours on each search.

“We are trying to recover as much of Parkersburg’s early history and Civil War history as we can,” he said. “There is a lot of stuff up there. There are things going back to Colonial times and beyond to the Native-American periods.”

Kesterson also credited the other members of the group for their work in recovering the items, including Brian Abbott, Randy McCray, Steve Wagner, Mike Moore and Kevin Bumgard.

“I want to thank each and every one of you for allowing us to go up there and recover this stuff,” Kesterson said.

Brian Kesterson holds a bullet fragment he dug up at Fort Boreman Park in July. (File Photo)

In July, the commission gave Kesterson permission to search an area of the park for relics with metal detectors where playground equipment had been removed.

Metal detecting is usually prohibited at the park, but the commissioners agreed to allow it to be done at the playground site by Kesterson and the 35th State Relic Hunters. Kesterson is also a local historian who worked on the establishment of the park on the site of the former Civil War Union encampment.

Artifacts recovered previously have been placed on display in the lobby of the Judge Black Annex, with some also going to the Blennerhassett Museum. Kesterson included slips detailing all the items they found to be put with them wherever they are displayed.

They also do after-action reports for everything they find in an area so their work is well documented, Kesterson said.

Commission President Blair Couch reminded people any metal detecting requires the permission of the commission to be done on county property and they have to present what is found.

Brian Abbott, left, digs a hole after getting a hit on his metal detector in July at Fort Boreman Park as Brian Kesterson looks on. (File Photo)

Kesterson said they have those guidelines on their website, urging people to get the proper permission before doing a search on local, county or state property.

Officials said sites at Mountwood Park could be locations for future relic searches.

Couch said others have gotten in trouble locally for doing unauthorized searches on Blennerhassett Island, a state park, and other sites.

“People need to go through the proper channels,” he said.

Kesterson said they use a variety of metal detectors with different settings for ground depth and different types of metals. He has one which can detect things 15-16 inches down. Another member has been able to detect things a couple of feet down.

“I have found a lot of stuff over the years,” he said, adding he has been doing metal detecting since the 1970s. “We have multiple areas all over the state of West Virginia where we have permission to hunt.”

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com