6/23/20 Report - Historical Treasure Coast Images From Wabasso, Vero and St. Lucie. A Few Finds.

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

Very Round Ball-Shape Object Found Yesterday.

Here are some finds I picked up yesterday.  I don't know what the ball-shaped object might be.  It looks a lot like a cannon ball, but I'll have to do some cleaning and investigate that.

The bottles below are embossed Coca Cola and Stuart Bottling Works bottles.  Both had a lot of shells on them.  The Coke is from Washington, DC.  I think that is the first I got from there.

Embossed Coca Cola and Stuart Bottling Works Bottles.

I've been able to find some information on the Stuart Bottling Works, but don't think I ever found out what they were putting in those bottles.  I'd guess soda or mineral water.

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The Sea Mist, Wabasso Beach.

Postcard Image Submitted by JamminJack

Yesterday I mentioned using old postcards for research. JamminJack said, I used post cards for research for a long time. Years ago, I donated my collection to Historical Society. It made me feel rewarded knowing future researchers will have access to them.

Below were several used for my research for 1715 Fleet and Treasure Coast. They are accessible online through MyFlorida site. 

This photo was taken before development of Wabasso beach. Check the cars and see if you can figure out the time frame.  

The title reads...

The Sea Mist, Wabasso Beach.

Back then Vero and Wabasdo were one beach. Confuses researchers when reading older articles on wrecks found, etc. 

Do you know exactly where it was?

Penn Wood Court

Postcard Image Submitted by JamminJack

About this one, Jack said, ... Pennwood Court, now Pennwood Motel. Kip Wagner helped with the construction of the motel.

Sexton's Motel Resort.

Postcard Image Submitted by JamminJack.

...Sexton's motel/resort. He was known for taking his guests across the Indian Lagoon to areas where treasure was being found.

St. Lucie State Museum.

3rd image is the building that later became Seal Museum at Pepper Park. This was built after treasure was being found in the Ft. Pierce area. I remember going in this museum.

Thanks to Jack for those images and descriptions. 

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From DJ...

Your June 22 blog reminded my of a search I could not complete. I found this reference to a casino (highlighted for you) and have been unable to locate the site of the old Casino. The only other reference was an advertisement I found once. I would imagine it would be directly across the Indian River as the barrier island was was only accessible by boat at that time. But thats a large area and many uncertain facts remain. Lots of development since them and most artifacts would likely be covered up by now or in the Indian River under sand and silt, anyway good to think about.

DJ also sent the following image of a great research tool.

Thanks DJ.

Can anyone tell us where the Fort Pierce casino was? I only have a vague recollection that I once knew about it.

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The low tide was nice and low yesterday.  The surf is still small.

Tropical depress Four is off the New England coast.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/1/20 Report - What Is Open Or Closed.

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

The following is my understanding at the present time.

Governor DeSantis said he is not going to order all beaches closed (as of March 25).

DeSantis issued a "Safer at Home Order" beginning Saturday, which mandates staying at home 24/7, except for "essential businesses and individuals."  You may travel for essential activities and outdoor activities. No gatherings of more than ten people.

Dade, Broward and Palm beaches are closed.  Governor DeSantis closed all businesses in those hot spots. 

There was a suit against DeSantis to force him to close all beaches.  I don't know what happened with that, but most local areas closed their beaches anyhow. 

•  St. Lucie County beaches closed effective March 23 based upon failure of crowds to honor social distancing, according to TCPalm.

•  Indian River County beaches closed as of March 23.

• Martin County beaches closed as of March 22.

• Brevard County - some beaches closed. This one is a little more complicated.  Beaches in unincorporated areas are open (as of March 31).  Cocoa Beach, Satellite Beach, Indian Harbor Beach, Indialantic Beach, Melborne Beach are closed.

In most of those areas, beach accesses are closed, gated and patrolled by officers.

As of March 24, in Vero beach people can walk along JC Park boardwalk but they can't go to the shoreline.  They can use the park areas of public beach, such as the grassy areas.

People with private access, such as hotel guests, HOA and condominium residents and community association members can visit the beaches.

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Question: if you kick ten gathered people off a beach, are they just going to gather elsewhere?  Or do you ask them to separate or just shut the beach for everyone?


I consider my readers to be intelligent people who can read and independently think for themselves.


The surf will be building up to 6 to 9 feet by Sunday.


Do well,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/19/15 Report - Indian River Treasures. Steamboat St. Lucie. Pot Shard, Old Bottle & Fossils.

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



Picture of the Steamship St. Lucie
Docked Not Far From Jensen.

In the old days the Indian River Lagoon was one of the main highways on the Treasure Coast.  Boat traffic was used by early settlers.  Later there was steamship service.

Here is a picture of the steamship St. Lucie at dock near Jensen.  I haven't found the name of any others, but feel there must have been others.

If any of you know of other steamships that sailed the Indian River along the Treasure Coast, I'd like to hear or read about that.  I've done a little research on that but haven't found very much.

You will occasionally see old things along or in the river.  One day just walking along Indian River Drive I saw a check-stamped pottery shard.  That was a surprise. 

Back after the hurricanes of 2004, the west side of the Indian River was lined with bottles.  It really was amazing.  They were solid along the water line.

The bottles gradually disappeared.  There weren't any to be seen for a few years.  I didn't know if they would ever return because many of them came from the banks where people used to throw their garbage.  That, of course, was in the days before they had garbage service. 

After the hurricanes they put sheets of concrete blocks over the banks of the river to prevent Indian River Drive from getting washed out again.  I thought with all of that we might not ever see the bottles again.

Last year a few of them started to appear.  And in the past few months some of the older ones started to show up again in spots where there was erosion along the water line.

My guess now is that there are still tons of them covered by sand that will be washed up again some day.

Years and years ago an embossed blob top beer bottles was found in the sand down by where the steamship shown above was docked.  The dock is no longer there.  It was destroyed by a hurricane way back in the day.

The thing that revealed the bottle was a spot of moss in the sand.  The moss, or seaweed or whatever it was, was growing on the bottle.  That bottle was not along the water line but out in the shallow water.

There are still the remains of a few garbage burn piles that can be found on the banks of the river.  Not many though, because of the erosion control structures.

I've never gone out to hunt fossils along the Indian River but have twice seen fossils there.  The first was this nice Great White tooth found along the edge of the river

Great White Shark Fossil Tooth.

.When I first saw it I thought it was the corner of a buried bottle.  When I bent down I saw it was a shark tooth. 

It is a very nice example with sharp serrations.  It is over two inches long.

One other time I was walking along the river bottles and noticed a fossil tooth of an extinct horse.  That was a surprise too.  I didn't really think that would be what it was when I first saw it.

Even though the fossils are there, I think in most places they are very rare.

When it comes to metal detecting along or in the shallow water of the Indian River, it is very difficult.  There is a ton of trash on the banks and in the shallow water.

I did spot an old pair of ear rings in one old burn pile once.

Even without a metal detector you can find all kinds of stuff along the river.  Those that I've mentioned today include include pot shards, old bottles and fossils, all of which I have seen when not hunting them. 

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The surf predictions and wave data is now found below the popular posts list.

This week we'll have very smooth surf and south winds.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net

8/8/12 Report - Alvaro Mexia, Club News & Resources

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

22K Ring Beach Find.

I've been talking about determining the melt value of finds.  I mentioned that you will find some 22K items, often from India or Oriental countries.   Here is one such example.  It is not marked but tests at 22K and looks Oriental.



Alvaro Mexia is probably the first European to map the Indian River Lagoon.  He did that in 1605 when he was sent on a mission to improve relations with the Native Americans.

You can learn more about that at the following web site.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvaro_Mexia



The Indian River Journal is one excellent resource that you might not know about.   As an example, here is one issue.  It talks about a variety of historic topics from German WWII prison camps in Florida to Alvaro Mexia and historic old houses etc.

http://search.aol.com/aol/search?q=alvaro+mexia+map&s_it=tb50-ie-aolmail-ab-en-us



News from the St. Lucie Metal Detecting Club.

Meet Bernie this Saturday at Bathtub Beach 2 hours before low tide if you want to join him for a hunt.

The monthly club hunt will be Saturday August 25th will be at Stuart Beach south to St Lucia Beach.

The next club meeting is scheduled for September 15th @ 6:00 pm at the house of Bernie Cafaro.


Take your beverage. Food will be ordered from Roma Pizza. Don't forget to take your finds for show and tell.

Bernie is also planning a Fall to the Peace River.  Water levels on the Peace River typically fall around October.

Thanks for the update Bernie.


Treasure Coast Beach Detecting Forecast and Conditions.

The wind is from the South this morning.  The seas are about one foot and not predicted to be much more than that for the rest of the week. 

Conditions remain poor.  I'll remind you though, that there is always some place to hunt and something to be found.  When sand is building in one location, it is leaving another.  Remember that, and go where the sand has moved from.

Also watch around obstructions to the natural flow of sand, such as rocks.   Those areas can erode when nothing else does. 

Ernesto is now over the Yucatan.  The remains of Florence are still well east of the windward isles and not expected to form any more real soon.   There is, however, one area farther to the East that might form into a cyclone in the near future.  It bears watching.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/24/11 Report - Irene Moves East & Not Much Action Yet

One Treasure Coast Beach This Morning.


I often remind you to keep any valuable finds in a bank safe deposit box. Evidently one St Lucie County person didn't do that.

Earlier this year a Spanish Colonial coin collection was stolen in Port St. Lucie. The collection included 136 Spanish coins, many of which were minted in Potosi in the late 1700s. There were also some Pillar dollars, Portraits and cobs.

A suspect has been arrested and 45 of the coins have been recovered. Contact Doug Davis at 817-723-7231 or Doug@numismaticcrimes.org if you have information on any of the others.

There is a web site detailing information on crimes involving numismatic collections.

Here is the link.

http://numismaticcrimes.org

I'm glad the crook and some of the coins were found.


A NFL championship ring belonging to Art Donovan that was stolen in 1977 was recently found by police listed for sale on Criag's List and returned to the former defensive tackle who said the ring was stolen on a trip to Hong Kong.

This article traces the ring's amazing travels.

here is the link.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-08-23/news/bs-md-donovan-ring-returned-20110823_1_ring-art-donovan-howard-county-police



One of Hurricane Irene's early acts of destruction was the destruction of Richard Branson's mansion on his private island - not by wind or water damage but by a fire started by lightening. At least he has the money to rebuild.

http://www.hollywoodheavy.com/detail/002329/richard-bransons-private-island-devistated-by-fire/

Lightening is not what you think of first when you think hurricane, but destruction can come in many ways.


Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.

Latest Track From BoatUS.com.

The track keeps getting shifted a little further out to sea and a little further away from us. It looks like the Outer Banks will really get it.

The surf predictions have been pretty consistent for the last few days. Now they are expecting 11 foot seas, as the peak, late Thursday. Seas will quickly build on
Thursday to a peak and then subside gradually Friday and through the weekend.

A good time to hunt might be at low tide after the peak passes and the wind shifts to come from the west.

The weekend should provide some good hunting.

As you might be able to see from the photo at the top of the page, the high seas have not begun, and there is no erosion to speak of yet. The ocean got stirred up just a little by a passing rain storm and there was some lightening out there.

The beach conditions remain poor so far.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/27/11 Report - More on the Lost Merchant, Proposed Laws, & New Club

Side Scan Sonar Images of Lost Merchant Obtained by The Dare.

They got a 100 gamma hit that provides additional evidence that the target is indeed the shipwreck.

Information and picture received from the Mel Fisher organization via email.



Jim M. sent me an email informing me of a new government proposal that could severely affect detectorists.

As you probably know, Florida's navigable waterway's are considered state property, and anything old found in them belongs to the state. I'm talking about a few decades old, not just centuries.

I don't know much about this new proposal yet and am certainly not up on the details and technicalities of it, but it seems that it would give the EPA and Army Corp control over any and every drop of water in the US.

Hard to believe? Here is a link if you want to look into it.

http://www.kintera.org/c.5oJELSPwFhJWG/b.6074153/k.8B4D/Action_Center/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=5oJELSPwFhJWG&b=6074153&aid=16282&tr=y&auid=8712081


Concerning the newly forming St. Lucie Treasure Hunting Club, Bernie C. says, We now have 9 members signed up 4 seasonal and 5 local. Let your friends know about the club if they're into detecting. We are planning a morning hunt on Sunday the 31st of July. Let me know who's interested, also send me any suggestions on locations you'd like to hunt. I am working on club decals/patches, and as soon as the need arises I will be upgrading the webpage. I have also started a Facebook page and will be making a Youtube page to post find videos for our out of town members so they can be updated on what treasures we find. Thanks to all who have showed interest in St Lucie Treasure Hunters Club and I'm looking forward to meeting everyone.

For additional information on the new St. Lucie Treasure Hunting Club, contact Bernie C. at twiprod001@att.net.


Parts of a German bomber were found in England by using an old photograph.

Here is the link.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-14282119

I mention this because old photos and post cards can provide good treasure hunting leads.


The past few days I've given a lot of good old historical resources that could keep you busy for some time. I hope you make good use of them.


Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.

Watch out for the thunder storms. You can usually hear them a good ways off as static in your ear phones. Be careful on the beach.

As you undoubtedly know, lightening can send surges through your home wiring and damage electronics. You might want to unplug any detectors that are being charged, along with any other expensive electronics when a storm is nearby.

The rain also brought out tons of mosquitoes, so for your next trip to the beach, you might want to take some mosquito repellent.

The tropical wave that I've been talking about for the last few days now has an 80% chance of becoming a cyclone. It is now closer to the Yucatan and looks like it will move into the Gulf.

The wind is from the south and the seas remain calm - running about two feet. That will continue for the next week, only varying about a half foot one way or the other.

As a result conditions beach detecting conditions remain poor.

Storms do chase people off of the beach. While not so many people visit the beach, those that are there when a storm arises often lose things when they hurriedly collect their belongings for the mad dash to the car.

You might want to try something different - maybe a land site.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/21/11 Report - Storing Finds, St. Lucie Club, Conditions Downgrade

Lazy Sea This Morning Just After Low Tide.

I was looking at some finds the other day and was reminded once again how what you do after the find is important.

I was looking at one small charm that was hard to tell how old it was. One little mark on the back caught my attention. It was too small to read, so I got it in good light and pulled out my jewelers loop. Only then could I see 925 stamped on it.

That, of course, means that is sterling silver, which also means that it is not centuries old. A mark like that can often help narrow down the age of found items. Carefully scan finds for small marks.

Some designs have been used basically the same for centuries, so they can be hard to identify by date, especially when they've been in salt water for a while.

It is good to have a good quality jewelers loop to inspect your finds.

A loop can also help you determine the value of gem stones.

Another recommendation is to avoid storing different types of metals together. If one type of metal is stored touching another, the metals can leach or one can mar the surface of the other, leaving hard to remove marks that can ruin the look.


Pewter Medallion Marred By Being Stored In a Box With Other Metal Items.

This is one example. It survived the beach very nicely, but then was damaged by being stored with other metal items. It looks like it might be very difficult or impossible to get rid of the new damage. Although this isn't an important item, the same thing can happen to more important finds.

You don't have to worry about that much with gold, but silver is especially prone to being discolored or marred by other metals. Definitely don't store salt-water blackened silver with like-new silver.

When it comes to silver items, I'd individually wrap each item to keep each one from touching another.


Kovels Komments says, Vintage watches are fashionable again. Some men in their 30s who gave up watches for cell phones are now wearing watches as jewelry. Watch collectors say they have learned to appreciate "a proper mechanical timepiece." Grandpa's watch is cool, especially if it's an old Rolex. And wooden jewelry is back. Remember those carved costume jewelry pins made for children in the 1950s? Hip-hop artists have started a trend back to wooden jewelry. Wooden bracelets, beads, pendants, and even cufflinks and sunglasses are being made. But old wooden jewelry is still selling for bargain prices.


Bernie C. is interested in starting a detecting club in the St. Lucie area. I guess there was one there at one time. Bernie is willing to take the lead to get this thing started. Let him know if you are interested. His email is twiprod001@att.net.

He has a web site for you to look at too.

www.stlucietreasurehunters.vpweb.com


Don't forget that anytime you want to check out the Jupiter area beaches, you can find the photos at the following web site, that you can also find in my treasure links list in this blog.

http://www.jupiterbeachpics.com/


Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.

Cindy is a tropical storm out in the Atlantic, and like Bret, is moving away from us. Neither will affect us.

The wind is from the south again, and the front of the beaches are building again.

I'm putting my beach conditions rating back to a 1 again.

That didn't last long, but there is a lot of summer left.

The next several days will see seas down around one foot, so we are back to the conditions that existed prior to the recent erosion.

I saw several guys out detecting the low tide area this morning.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net