Good! It appears your resources for how to write html are sadly out of date. Go to htmldog.com for a very easy to comprehend tutorial (take them in order, which alternates html and css). This site also offers a plethora of information.
As a simple example for comparison purposes, I remarked about a third of your research page. Study it, compare to your original, and to what the up-to-date references are trying to teach. As you say about treasure hunting, it’s not rocket science.
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<title>Research is Key</title>
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<h1>Research is key to successful treasure hunting</h1>
<p class="illusv1"><img src="images/Research2.jpg"
height="800"
width="550"
alt="Photo of author studying a topographical map" /></p>
<p>Research is, in my estimation, the most important part of your
treasure hunting success. I don't care how much you spent on your
detector, or how well you know its functions. If you want to find
old and valuable items, you must do your homework and find those
areas that contain them. It's really not rocket science!</p>
<hr />
<h2>In the early days of detecting</h2>
<p>When I first started detecting I had a few places in mind.
There wasn't a lot of competition in the late 70's, and about the
only people I saw with metal detectors were those at the beach in
New Jersey. As a result I was lucky enough to get my feet wet at
local parks, athletic fields, schools, and found silver coins
with some regularity. As time went on others entered the pastime,
and the competition to find older sites firts begin. That's when
I started researching in earnest. The best part? I actually
enjoyed it.</p>
<p>When I wasn't able to detect (winter time, night time) I was
at the local library, learning all I could about my town, my
county and my state's history. The physical act of doing this
made me feel like I was still in the field. I was envisioning the
finds that must be present in some of the areas mentioned.
Whether it was an old one room school, or a church social in the
grove, I was making plans, and couldn't wait to get there to
recover them. I made lists, and then more lists. I made notations
about places that sounded promising, but needed more research. I
copied whatever info I could at the library, especially old
maps.</p>
<p>After the reading part I began visually checking out the
promising sites by driving the roads in my town, my county and my
state. I made notations of those that looked like they could be
searched without much difficulty, and also those that I knew
needed more work. In other words would I need to find the
landowner, write an introductory letter, or knock on doors.
Rural, undeveloped sites offered some relief in that most likely
the landowner wouldn't mind my detecting. Other, more manicured
sites demanded more effort and finesse.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Collect your resources</h2>
<p class="illusv2"><img src="images/topo.jpg"
height="600"
width="400"
alt="Early Dallas Plat" />
<br />
Find plats from the early days, such as this
<br />
of a young Dallas, Texas.</p>
<p>I started collecting maps, both old and new, and became
extremely interested in topographical maps. Not sure where I
first read about them, but the information they offered about
potential places to detect had me salivating. I could find old
schools, churches, cemeteries, mines, and by comparing older
topo's with those of today, I could ascertain where old homesites
once stood. Needless to say I purchased as many <a href=
"http://topomaps.usgs.gov">topo maps Of my area</a> as
possible.Today, I use <a href="http://earth.google.com/">Google
Earth</a> to do a lot of my research. Learn it's features, and
put them to work for you. Lots of data available, and in many
instances actually see what the site looks like before you leave
your house.</p>
<p>Two books I found very useful in the beginning were
<i>Advanced Coin Shooting</i> by Patrick Fahey, and <i>Eastern
Treasure Hunter</i>, by Dave Redina. Not sure if they are
available today, but I suspect someone, somewhere, has them for
sale on the internet. Small booklets, but with lots of good
material.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Go exploring for treasure</h2>
<p class="illusv1"><img src="images/trees.jpg"
height="400"
width="600"
alt="photo of a circle of trees in a field" />
<br />
These trees surround what was once an old homesite</p>
<p>I would urge any of you who live in big metropolitan areas, to
get out of town when possible, and drive the rural back roads.
There are a great many areas available for you detect, if you
know what to look for. One thing I learned early on was to look
for a cluster of trees in what otherwise is an open field. These
might have enveloped or surrounded a homesite. If you are able to
walk the area look for remnants of early life (foundation stones,
oyster shells, colored glass, pieces of brick, pottery shards,
etc.). If you cannot locate an actual foundation, look for a
slight depression in the ground.....an indication that one was
present previously. Likewise the trees or shrubs in the
depression will typically be shorter than those surrounding it.
Also remember to look for any vegetation that is not native to
the surrounding area. That would indicate someone probably
planted it there, and another validation of prior habitation.</p>
<p>You might also look for a lane or road that seemingly goes
nowhere. Perhaps it leads to a homesite that has, over the years,
disappeared.</p>
<p>Look for road name clues. Keywords like grove, school, grange,
park, lake, church and reunion. Roads years ago were typically
named after their predominant use or purpose.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Talk to small town residents</h2>
<p>When driving through small communities, look for schools,
churches, athletic fields, town squares, parks and empty lots. If
you stop at a school or church, try to locate the cornerstone to
get an idea of how old they are. If you have the time, stop at
what appears to be the local gathering spot/watering hole, and
ask a few questions. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Here in
Texas the Dairy Queen is a terrific source of information in that
many old-timers congregate there to shoot the breeze and tell
stories. They not only know local history. They lived it!</p>
<p>See what appears to be a really old home that you'd like to
detect? If you are dressed decently, stop and knock on the door.
Introduce yourself, tell the owners about your pastime, and then
very politely ask if you might be able to return sometime and
detect their yard or area. Telling them you will return at a
later date will give them time to consider your request and tells
them that you are prepared to be checked out. If you have a
business card, all the better. Remember you only get one chance
to make a good first impression, and if you don't ask you will
never know. I say this a lot, but if you cannot hunt a site now,
asking and getting a "no" changes nothing. You couldn't hunt it
before, and you cannot hunt it now. Try to look at it that way,
and you will see it's simply <i>status quo</i>.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Search for clues to the treasure</h2>
<p>Use Google to check out surrounding areas and communities.
Type in the name of the town, and then add key words like park,
school, grove, events, community center, carnival, football,
baseball, etc.</p>
<p>Find the closest scout camp. Boy Scout, Cub Scout, Girl Scout
camps are all over, and finding them just might offer a great
place to detect. I detected one particular scout camp back in New
Jersey by giving detecting presentations or classes to the scouts
in exchange for detecting the camp itself. It proved to be a very
profitable site, and my wife Fay and I hunted it for some time.
It dated back to late 30's.</p>
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What I’ve done isn’t the only way, nor is it likely the best way to mark this up, but it should give you a better idea of the direction to take.
cheers,
gary