3/27/13 Report - Houses of Refuge & Dug Iron Objects

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.




View of Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge From Vintage Post Card

You probably know about the Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge south of Jensen Beach, but did you know about the House of Refuge in Vero?  It was once known as the Bethel Creek House of Refuge and stood where Jaycee Park in Vero is now.

You can read about the Bethel Creek House of Refuge and the life of some of the families that manned the station by using the following link.

www.indianrivermag.com/LIVE/images/webpdfs/HouseofRefuge-web.pdf 

It will take a few seconds to open, but it is well worth the time.

Thanks to Robert K. for the above link.

And here are the locations of the Florida Houses of Refuge (Found in Wikipedia). 

• Smith's Creek, 20 miles south of Matanzas Inlet, 29°26′10″N 81°06′25″W / 29.43611°N 81.10694°W / 29.43611; -81.10694 1886 - 1915.
• Mosquito Lagoon, east of the Mosquito Lagoon, 28°51′30″N 80°46′20″W / 28.85833°N 80.77222°W / 28.85833; -80.77222 1886 - 1915.
• Chester Shoal, 11 miles north of Cape Canaveral, 28°36′40″N 80°35′50″W / 28.61111°N 80.59722°W / 28.61111; -80.59722 1886 - 1915.
• Cape Malabar, 30 miles south of Cape Canaveral, 28°03′10″N 80°32′45″W / 28.05278°N 80.54583°W / 28.05278; -80.54583 1886 - 1891.
• Indian River or Bethel Creek, sixteen miles north of the Indian River Inlet (now known as the Fort Pierce Inlet), 27°40′00″N 80°21′20″W / 27.66667°N 80.35556°W / 27.66667; -80.35556 1876 - 1885^.
• Indian River Inlet, on the south side of the Indian River Inlet (inlet closed in 1890's, the station was approximately 2.2 miles north of today's Fort Pierce Inlet at Peppers Park, St. Lucie County), 27°29′45″N 80°17′50″W / 27.49583°N 80.29722°W / 27.49583; -80.29722 1885 - 1915.
• Gilbert's Bar or Saint Lucie Rocks, two miles north of what is now the St. Lucie Inlet, near Stuart, Florida, 27°12′00″N 80°09′50″W / 27.20000°N 80.16389°W / 27.20000; -80.16389 1896 -1915, Coast Guard Station 207 1915 - 1940, United States Navy beach patrol station 1940 - 1945^.
• Jupiter Inlet, near the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse. This was a life-saving station, rather than a house of refuge. A keeper was present year-round, with crew of six "surfmen" present during the winter.26°55′40″N 80°04′00″W / 26.92778°N 80.06667°W / 26.92778; -80.06667 1886 - 1896.
• Orange Grove,26°27′30″N 80°03′20″W / 26.45833°N 80.05556°W / 26.45833; -80.05556 in what is now Delray Beach, Florida 1876 -1896^.
• New River or Fort Lauderdale, in what is now Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 26°08′00″N 80°06′00″W / 26.13333°N 80.10000°W / 26.13333; -80.10000 1876 - 1915, site of Coast Guard Station 6, 1915 - present.
• Biscayne, at what is now 72nd Street on Miami Beach, Florida, 25°54′10″N 80°08′00″W / 25.90278°N 80.13333°W / 25.90278; -80.13333 1876 - 1915, Coast Guard Station 209 1915 - 1926.
• Santa Rosa, on Santa Rosa Island close to Fort Pickens and the Pensacola Light. This was a life-saving station, rather than a house of refuge. 30°19′00″N 87°15′30″W / 30.31667°N 87.25833°W / 30.31667; -87.25833 1885 - 1915, Coast Guard Station 212 1915 - 1986.

As you probably know, the Gilbert's Bar station is the only one still standing.  I've posted information on that station in several posts.


I posted pictures of some dug iron objects yesterday and had an idea what they were but wasn't sure.  I'm absolutely sure I know what they are now. 

A number of you got it right off the bat.  And nobody offered any answer other than the correct one.  

If you have any doubts, I think this will put them to rest.  Doug sent in this link that shows some decorative tops for wrought iron fences.   Take a look at DIY-167.   I think that is the exact one.

http://img.diytrade.com/cdimg/120442/2942205/0/1163468767/cast_iron_fence.jpg

Thanks to you all.   Pete R., Doug (who sent the above link), Rinkrat, Janine, David J., Robert K. and Russ P., all correctly identified the fence post tops. 

Pete R. added that they are called spearheads or railheads.

In addition a couple of guys also had a story of their own about eye-balling, which I talked about yesterday.

Rinkrat said, and i agree 100% on keeping your eyes open and scanning the ground. my best gold find ever was an eyeball gold chain.

William K. said,  your item about finding bills reminded me of two recent finds, one was a few dollars stuck together in the seaweed left, another was a 5.00 crumpled in the sand and like you, found another 5.00 when heading to the beach next to a puddle......fortunately/or unfortunately that last one was the best find of the day!


On the Treasure Coast we still have a north/northwest wind.  The surf is 1 - 2 feet.  Tomorrow the surf is going to be a little rougher.

The tide is getting a little bigger.  That might help a little.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net