Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Source: See nbbd.com link below. |
I've looked several times before but never found such a good article on the steamboats of the Indian River. As you know the river was the highway of the area in the early days. From canoes, to sailboats and now jet skis and yachts, the Indian River provided transportation, food and recreation for hundreds of years. In the late 1800s tthere were a variety of steamboats on the river.
A variety of items have been found in and around the river over the years, extending from ancient fossils to indigenous artifacts clay pipes and all the more modern junk, but there are also hints of the kinds of treasure that gave the Treasure Coast its name. Knowledge of the various eras and artifacts is required to distinguish items and the time periods they represent.
Today I'll introduce a few articles that provide a starting point for researching the steamboats of the river. The best is an article by Michael Knight. Below are just a few short excerpts along. Knight's article also presents photos of several of those steamboats, two of which, are presented in this post.
Upon reaching the Indian River the passengers and cargo were dropped off at Lund's hotel The Lund House in Titusville and several hotels in Rockledge like the Indian River Hotel and the Rockledge Hotel. Upon arrival in Titusville and Rockledge, passengers found themselves stranded because of a lack of downriver transportation. Sailboats were the mode of transportation of that period. It was for this reason that Captain Lund transferred his steamer Pioneer from the St Johns to the Indian River.
About 1876, Captain Thomas W. Lund brought his smaller steamer the Pioneer, owned by the Lund's Pioneer Steamboat Company, to the Indian River. She was put on a route between New Smyrna and Sand Point (Titusville) by way of Haulover Canal and a Tuesday and Saturday Titusville-Sebastian schedule. Pioneer lasted only a short time on the Indian River...
The Pioneer was destroyed by fire in Titusville after only about a year of service.
Sometime in 1889 a new queen began her reign on the Indian River under the Indian River Steamboat Company banner. She was the St Lucie. The vessel was built in Wilmington, Delaware, for a cost of $30,000, and sailed under the commands of Captain William Lee and Captain Steve A. Bravo. She had fourteen staterooms and a large hurricane deck, and she could travel 10.5 knots over the water. The vessel drew only 35 inches of water and was able to travel almost anywhere in the Indian River Lagoon. St Lucie was 122 feet long and had a beam of 24 feet.
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| Source: See nbbd.com link below. |
Here is the link to that article.
Steamboats on the Indian River by Michael Knight (nbbd.com)
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Captain Paddison ran steamboats on the Indian River for more than a decade before Henry Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railroad put them into decline and eventually out of business entirely. The Rockledge was sold sometime before 1895 to Edward E. Vaill, a former hotel proprietor on Broadway in New York City. Vaill had difficulty maintaining the Rockledge and moored her at Jupiter near the Celestial Railroad dock as a floating hotel.
Regular visitors to the Jupiter River were the steamers St. Augustine, St. Sebastian, Progress, White, Santa Lucia, and St. Lucie. Many of these were built by the Indian River Steamboat Company....
Here is that link.
Steamboats & Railways - Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and Museum (jupiterlighthouse.org)
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Yesterday I posted a TCPalm article on the steamboat St. Lucie.
I remember once posting a photo of a steamboat at a dock down by Jensen picking up pineapples for shipment. I'll have to look that one up again.
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Below are some Treasure Coast found RC soda bottles.
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| Embossed RC Bottle. |
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Heal of the same bottle embossed
PROPERTY OF NEHI BOTTLING CO. |
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Two :Painted Label or ACL
RC Bottles. |
I love the graphics on ACL bottles. I think they are every bit as nice as the Warhol Campbell Soup can. Too bad they are almost never found in good condition, especially if they've spent much time in the water.
All I know on the dates right now is that the RC or Royal Crown name is 1936 and later. I once showed a nice heavily embossed NEHI bottle that is earlier. Notice the NEHI Bottling Co. name on the RC bottle.
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Nothing new with Treasure Coast beach conditions.
Happy Fourth of July,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
