Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Coins Found by Dan B. |
Dan B. found the coins shown above at an inland construction site. Here is what he said.
Good inland hunting recently at one of my favorite spots. Got turned up by some construction.
My first opportunity that I caught it in the action and was able to benefit inside that window.
So far score is Me-1 - Sod and pavement-5. It hurts to drive up to a spot that you have waited for them to tear up for years only to see sod and concrete.
It is believed that the name “Saint Lucie” was first introduced to the area by the Spanish. In 1565 Fort Santa Lucia was built by the Spanish, at the Jupiter Inlet. Construction for this fort began on December 13th, the feast day of the Roman Catholic Saint Lucia. Pedro Menendez de Aviles established a colony in 1567 called “Santa Lucia” somewhere between Vero Beach and Stuart. Old Spanish maps identify the area as Santa Lucia.
The current Saint Lucie County was known as East Florida in 1810. In 1821 the area was renamed St. Johns County. St. Johns was split into several counties in 1840 and this area became Mosquito County. Ten years later the Mosquito County area is slashed into two new counties and our area becomes St. Lucie for the first time...
That is from St. Lucie County History | St. Lucie Historical Society (stluciehistoricalsociety.net)
According to a personal communication I recently received from author and researcher Laura Strolia, there are historical documents indicating that blockhouses were built along Florida's southern coast between 1566 and 1568. It appears that one of those was in the Jensen area. A few years ago in this blog I reported on a cannon ball found at a site very close to the proposed site of one blockhouse. Interesting!
I eagerly await the publication of Laura's most recent book. Maybe you've already read her previous book, The Marigalera of the 1715 Fleet.
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I don't know if you pay much attention to your dreams, but it seems to me that they can often be the key to solving problems. That is nothing new to the psychiatric community, but it can be a pain, if upon awakening in the middle of the night, your mind is high gear. Despite the inconvenience, dream analysis can be helpful.
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Lately I've been doing more bottle hunting than metal detecting. It is one of those times when it seems that the old bottles have been popping up, and that doesn't happen all the time. Like with metal detecting, there are times that are productive and others that are not so productive. And like they say, "Make hay while the sun shines." You never know what you are missing, and it is a shame you can't do everything at once. You have to make decisions and you only discover the path you choose.
For me, hunting surface bottles has several advantages. First, I don't have to get in the car and drive anywhere to do it. I just take a little walk. It is fortunate that I have such good hunting so close to home.
Another thing I like about hunting local bottles, is the local history, which seems even more personal because it the area where I have lived for a good number of years.
Bottle hunting also provides some good clues for metal detecting. If you find old bottles, you know that the area also has to have some old coins and artifacts of a similar age.
It seems I've been on the bottle trail, and each time I find a nice old bottle, it gets me more interested to find out what else is there. I'll get back to doing more beach metal detecting before long. In fact, I've done some that I haven't reported on yet. Nothing great though.
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A few days ago I dug eight of these heavy iron railroad plates, I'm still looking for a way to make something out of them without doing any welding. The typical size is 11 inches per 8 inches.
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| Dug Iron Plates |
Any ideas?
I hope I can find a three more sections of railroad track. I want to make another bench. The first one I made from track sections worked out great.
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A one foot surf is predicted for the next week.
Good hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net