Metal Detecting On Large Land?

Hi all,

I do not even have a metal detector yet, local potential areas have sparked my interest. I found them due to old maps I found after the passing of my great grandfather. My question is how to find the owners and request permission on large acreages of land?

For example, these are the places I'm mostly looking at:

"Simmon's Store"
On one map from 1894, there is a location within ~1-2 miles of my home. It's simply marked "Simmons store". The only other locations on this map here are two family names that once apparently must have lived here. There wasn't much here back then.

I was hoping to somehow find where this store might have been. Since they dealt with money I was hoping maybe something may have fell out of their pockets and lost on the ground back then.

Athens Folklore
Nearby is a city named Athens where there was a few civil war battles. The legend of Athens confederate silver and gold however is very old and wide spread (google searches lead you right to it). It also has three versions so the chances are slim to none.

Anyways, as the legend goes Union soldiers were coming and the carriage carrying the silver and gold was stuck. They buried it 0.5 miles from a river crossing. A map I found from ~1880 has a few of the frequently traveled trails and including a crossing where it would likely be.

Seeing as the map was likely not the only one made of this area, I'm sure someone else has had that idea by now. The modern location is on a huge acreage of trees. So I thought if I can get permission, I may could just go look on a slow day. How would I find the owner of a large acreage with no addresses though?