10/30/19 Report - St. Augustine Lighthouse History. History of Tools. More Thoughts on Troy's Find. Higher Surf Coming.

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

St. Augustine Lighthouse Turns 145 This Year.

Source: HistoricCoastCulture.com (Full link below)

This beloved black-and-white-striped lighthouse turns 145 in 2019 but its fascinating history dates back more than 400 years. Its Florida’s very first lighthouse and, along with the structures that preceded it, the oldest permanent aid to navigation in North America.

It has been the site of battles and picnics. Confederate soldiers hid its lens during the Civil War. During WWII, it was occupied by armed guards. It has seen tragic fires and passionate restoration. It may be haunted by four different ghosts. It’s a gathering place and guiding point for St. Augustine...

First built in 1589 by Spain, the tower was under Spanish rule twice for a total of 211 years. The British took control for 20 years following the Revolutionary War. In 1821, Spain ceded Florida to the United States who has maintained ownership ever since...

Here is the link to read more about this history.

https://www.historiccoastculture.com/illuminating-400-years-of-maritime-heritage-and-mysteries/?utm_source=digilant&utm_medium=native&utm_content=Tier3&utm_term=400-years-of-history&utm_campaign=floridas-first-lighthouse

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The discussion of Troy's find chisel(?) find continues. Susan E. suggested making a distinction between what the item was originally made for and how it might have ultimately been used. Here is what she said. The question is whether this artifact was used as a chisel.

I would examine the surface on the flat end, for signs of use.   For example, Troy C. says that it is iron coated with bronze or copper, so if it was struck by an iron hammer we would expect to see loss of the coating (which is softer than iron).   Also, perhaps that end would be a bit smoother than the rest of the artifact due to repeated contact with the hammer.   

Its often difficult to reach a conclusion from a photo.  You can't look at everything you'd like to, and you don't get the same feel for an object that you can hold in your hand.

I thought the plating or whatever looked quite odd in the photo and wondered about the metallic composition.

Bill P. said, I have a hard time believing that any chisel would be made of anything but steel. That pic looks like brass or bronze. Even when chiseling wood the bronze would never hold an edge for very long. It's something else.

Thanks guys.  Great thoughts.


I found a very interesting website on the history of woodworking tools.  Here is a photo of some 18th century tools, including chisels.

18th Century Back Saw, Chisels and Other Edged Tools.

Source: WoodWorkingHistory.com (Full link below).

They were made in Birmingham, long a center for iron and steel metalworking.

Among other interesting facts, you will find this list of reasons why it is often difficult to identify the source or identity of old tools.

first, the tool is an object of daily use, subjected while in service to hard wear and, in some cases, ultimate destruction;

second, a tool's usefulness is apt to continue through many years and through the hands of several generations of craftsmen, with the result that its origins become lost;

third, the achievement of an implement of demonstrated proficiency dictated against radical, and therefore easily datable, changes in shape or style; and

fourth, dated survivals needed to establish a range of firm control specimens for the better identification of unknowns, particularly the wooden elements of tools—handles, moldings, and plane bodies—are frustratingly few in non-arid archeological sites.

That is just a small sample of what you will find at the site.  Some of it is in "olde" English.

Here is the link.

http://woodworkinghistory.com/Ch2-origins-of-tools-medieval.htm

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If you don't like my philosophizing, you might want to bail-out now.  Fair notice.

A couple times recently I said, "The more I learn, the more I don't know."   On the face, that sounds contradictory and like it could not possibly be true.  When the thought first came to me, I liked it because it had the definite ring of truth, but there was also a feeling of mystery to it.

If you believe in a world in which there are only a finite number of things to be known, when you get to know one of those things, there is one less that is unknown.  That would make the statement false,
but the truth of the statement that originally wasn't clear to me, is that the world does not consist of a finite number of things to be known, and when you take a step down the path of truth what opens up before you is a even larger world in an ever expanding universe of marvelous new possibilities.   It is something like coming to the top of a hill on a clear night and seeing the countless stars like never before.  It is beyond words, logic or reason.  You encounter the incomprehensible infinite and become a part of it.

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The tides are pretty big now and it looks like we'll have some bigger surf at the end of the week.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net