4" Square Nail?

[MI Detectors]

Found this today along with more of the farm type junk we've been finding. Looked up square nails again, and can only find them up to 3 1/2 inches. This one seems to have no head or it came off. I did scrap a lot of corrosion off with my fingers to get a better look at it but it had no head. Barn nail perhaps? Dave

 

[Digger_O'Dell]

Square nails come in all sizes-many were hand made spikes for special applications.

 

[Full Metal Digger]

I agree with O'Dell. Probably a hand-wrought nail. Great relic to have. HH, Dave.

 

[MI Detectors]

Thanks fellas! I thought it was a pretty cool find, especially where I found it, and it's condition. It came out of a park in a very upscale neighborhood along the lakefront. Dave

 

[Skamaniac]

I've found a few of these. One was 6 or 7 inches I think. I found one at an old farm, and a couple were near an old sawmill site. The sites dated from late 1800's to the 1910's. A friend found one at a different old sawmill site along the Columbia River. Since yours was found near a lake, I suspect these type spikes were used for wooden docks, among other things.