An old lady with no family? Just kidding!

I know exactly how you feel. 15 years ago I was lucky enough to search through an attic of a house that had remained in a single family since 1885 and was about to be torn down the following week. The attic was knee deep in stuff from the late 1800'* til about 1945. Clothing, train tracks, pictures of the area from about 1880, hundreds of mason jars, you name it I found it. I remember driving home with my car full, rehersing my story that I would tell my mom as to why I was bringing all this stuff home. As soon as she saw what I had, she surprised me by asking if there was more to be had. We made about 5 trips back to the house together, always leaving with the car full. I ran into another man in the house who told me I should have been there two days earlier. He said the whole house was left furnished with antiques and that the neighborhood dealers were hauling out truck loads.
Good luck in your exploration, I will be thinking of you with envy.