The Moores Creek Bridge is a 46 foot long single span, concrete, historic bridge on North 2nd St…read more in Fort Pierce. It was built by the Luten Bridge Corporation of Palatka Fl in 1925. The concrete bridge replaced a wooden one that connected a residential neighborhood with downtown Ft. Pierce and the water front. It was refurbished in 1997 by the city of Ft. Pierce and the Florida Department of Transportation. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 17, 2001. It has been nicknamed the tickle tummy bridge for the feeling you get in your stomach when going over it due to the high arch.

I was taken a beautiful late afternoon drive down A1A when I discovered this historic marker in…read morefront of Nancy Higgs Park in Melbourne Beach. The Smith Family Homestead marker is part of the Florida Historical Marker Program, one of the Division of Historical Resources' most popular and valued public history programs. The markers raise awareness of Florida's cultural history while enhancing the enjoyment of historic sites for residents and tourists. The blue historic markers tell the stories of the people and places that were important to Florida's history and they can be found in front of schools, forts, roads, archaeological sites, battlefields, cemeteries, churches. and historic homesteads like the one. Historic marker F-641 was installed in 2008 by Brevard County Historical Commission, Brevard County Tourism Development Council, and the Florida Department of State. This homestead is a Florida Heritage Site. In 1887, brothers Robert Toombs Smith and Charley Smith came from southwest Georgia to Florida after the Civil War to start over and take advantage of the United States Government Homestead Act of 1862. They claimed 158.79 acres on Mullet Creek where they cleared the land, built a structure to live made out of palmetto cabbage logs, and planted crops that included beans, sweet potatoes, collards, and later citrus. Their produce was shipped all the way to the White House during the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Robert bought out his brother's interest in the homestead and married Elizabeth (Bessie) Wells from Missouri. In 1899 they built a two-story Florida Cracker "I" house with a wrap around porch on three sides. The house was made from heart pine and featured clapboard siding and tongue and groove floors rests on coquina pilings. A separate kitchen structure was attached. On March 17, 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the deed to their homestead. Honest John was the third of Robert and Bessie's eight children. He disliked farming and instead became a commercial fisherman. He holds the Honest John's Fish Camp trout record of 13 lbs. 4 oz. Honest John died in 1994 just before his 90th birthday, but his fishing legacy lives on. His daughter, Barbara Smith Arthur holds seven IGFA world records for sea trout and one for black drum. Barbara and her husband, Roger, have three sons who operate the fish camp today that sits on the banks of the Indian River Lagoon at the mouth of Mullet Creek. Also located on the site is a sugar cane mill, barn/net house and railroad depot used as a packing house for citrus grown on the property.

On North Hutchinson Island at Sebastian Inlet State Park on Orchid Island there is a marker on the…read moresite of the survivors' and salvagers' camp from the fleet of Spanish ships sunk by a hurricane off the coast on July 31, 1715. The marker is part of the Historical Marker Program, one of the Division of Historical Resources' most popular and valued public history programs. The markers raise awareness of Florida's cultural history while enhancing the enjoyment of historic sites for residents and tourists. The markers tell the stories of the people and places that were important to Florida's history and they can be found in front of schools, forts, roads, battlefields, cemeteries, churches, historic districts, archaeological sites, buildings, bridges, and historic sites like this one. You can tell this is an older marker because it is green and the newer markers are blue. Historic marker F-222 was installed in 1974 by Treasure Coast Chapter NSDAR and the Florida Department of State. A late July hurricane in 1715 destroyed the Spanish treasure fleet as they were sailing from Havana, Cuba to Spain. Eleven of the twelve ships filled with gold, silver, jewels, and other goods from the New World sank off the coast between present day Melbourne Beach and Vero Beach. 1,000 lives were lost and the cargo was scattered over a 40 mile area. Approximately 1,500 men, women, and children who survived the disaster reached the shore and made a camp along the barrier island near the place where the fleet's flagship had sunk. Two boats were salvaged from the wrecks and were sent for help, one to St. Augustine and the other back to Havana. Governor General Corcoles sent a relief party composed mainly of Indian support from St. Augustine to provide food and help for the survivors. They also provided protection and aid to the salvagers who were also camped out and working to recover the valuable cargo from the sunken ships. Temporary structures were constructed for use as storehouses for the recovered gold and silver. While the salvage operation was in process, Henry Jennings, an English pirate, conducted a daring raid and seized a large quantity of the recovered coins which he took to to Port Royal, Jamaica. Spanish salvagers were able to recover the majority of the treasure and brought it to Havana. Eventually, the Spanish abandoned salvage operations, and English opportunists moved in to their camps to claim what was left in the wrecks. When they were picked clean they left the site too. In the early 1940s, amateur archaeologist Charles Higgs discovered evidence of the salvage camps in the dunes near the Sebastian Inlet. A hurricane in 1955 washed away some dunes around the camps, revealing many artifacts and silver coins. The wreck was eventually rediscovered by treasure hunters in the 1960's. Salvage efforts by local builder Kip Wagner and his Real 8 Company recovered thousands of coins, pieces of jewelry, and several cannons. These discovery led to the establishment of a state park and the nearby McLarty Treasure Museum which has more information about the wreck including an informative 45 minute movie, displays, and artifacts. Storms continue to wash up a small number of artifacts to this day.

Fort Capron was a U.S. Army post established in March 1850 by Captain Erastus A. Capron, a U.S…read more Army officer during the Second Seminole War. Fort Capron was built to replace Fort Pierce which burned down in 1843. During the 3rd Seminole War, the log fort provided housing for the soldiers. The fort remained in existence for 8 years and had three commanders. The first commander was Lieutenant Jonathan Ridley, followed by Lieutenant Ambrose Powell Hill who would go on to serve in the confederacy under Stonewall Jackson. General Jesup used Fort Capron along with a string of other forts to drive the Seminoles into the Everglades. The road used by patrols for the military from Fort Capron to Fort Dallas in Miami is known as Military Trail in Palm Beach County. Captain Abner Doubleday, the last commander of the fort evacuated the post on June 14,1858. The civilians who remained in the area around the fort for protection stayed and formed St. Lucie Village. A stone monument in St. Lucie Village marks the site of the fort where Chamberlin Rd. meets the Indian River. The marker is not in the exact spot of the fort which was located a short distance away in a southwest direction. The marker was put in place on July 4, 1925 by a chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

This is an interesting bit of history I stumbled on as I was cutting across the state to the coast…read morefrom Yeehaw Junction. In the middle of nowhere is a historic marker for Fort Vinton, a military outpost that existed from 1839 to 1858. The sign is located a mile south of highway 60 near 122nd Avenue. As white settlers flooded into Florida, the government became determined to relocate all Native Americans west of the Mississippi. This forced removal policy sparked the Second Seminole War in 1835. The Seminoles fled south into Florida to evade capture and being sent out west and they moved into the Everglades in order to hide. In response the army set up forts south of Tampa to the east coast along rivers as they chased after the Seminoles who were much more skilled at surviving in the terrain than the soldiers. The fort was one of many that was built to help when problems arose between the setters and the Seminoles. Post #2 was established on April 7, 1839, approximately 18 miles northwest of Fort Pierce. It was abandoned in 1842 when the conflict ended. In May of 1850, Post #2 was opened again and renamed in honor of Major John Rogers Vinton (1801-1847). He had served in the Florida War and was killed in action in the Mexican War. Vinton was the grandfather of Francis L. V. Hoppin, a prominent American architect and painter from Providence, Rhode Island. Fort Vinton served as an outpost of Fort Capron at Indian River Inlet. On May 22, 1850 after the final battle with the tribe that ended the Second Seminole War, the post was closed. Fort Vinton was recommissioned for the third Seminole War from 1856-1858. The exact location where the fort existed has been lost to time. Different maps record different locations. No matter the exact location, it was in the middle of a mosquito infested swamp days away from civilization. Today the site is an orange an grapefruit farm. I always love discovering one of these historic markers. I read them and put together another piece of the puzzle of Florida's history. As for the Seminoles, they had the last laugh. Two hundred were able to escape into the Everglades and they were the only tribe to never sign a peace treaty with the US government. They now own the billion dollar Hard Rock gambling enterprise.

In 1919 when Vero Beach was incorporated, the population was 800 souls. Downtown existed primarily…read moreat the intersection of Osceola boulevard and Seminole Avenue. It is fun to check out all of the historic buildings from Vero's early years. Many of the buildings date from the 1920's during Florida's land boom years. During this time period there was a tradition of naming buildings and streets after Native American tribes like in the case with the 1918 Seminole Building. The first county offices of Indian River were located on the second floor of the Seminole building until the Indian River County Courthouse was built in 1935. Today the building houses Napier and Rollins, family law attorneys and the Treasure Coast Newspaper. Nice to see the old building still has life left in her.

I discovered this historic marker while driving through Fellsmere to the St. Sebastian River…read morePreserve State Park. This marker is part of the Florida Historical Marker Program, one of the Division of Historical Resources' most popular and valued public history programs. The markers raise awareness of Florida's cultural history while enhancing the enjoyment of historic sites for residents and tourists. The blue historic markers tell the stories of the people and places that were important to Florida's history and they can be found in front of schools, forts, roads, archaeological sites, battlefields, cemeteries, churches. historic buildings and roads like this one. Historic marker F-404 was installed in 1999 by the St. Johns River Water Management District, Indian River County Historical Society, and Florida Department of State. The Fellsmere Grade is an old road that was a vital transportation route in the early 20th century, connecting Fellsmere to the surrounding areas. Promoted as the Fellsmere-Tampa cross state road, this road allowed travel between the interior and the coast by crossing over the St. Johns River marshes. This allowed access to the town by sportsman who were vital for Fellsmere economy. In the late 1940's the Fellsmere Grade bridges burned across the river and the road ended in the marsh six miles from this site. Today this road serves the public as access to the Fellsmere Grade Recreation Area which is a part of the head waters of the St. John's River. This area was created to help restore the river's functions while providing flood protection down stream. Farmlands were turned back into marshland, nearly eliminating fresh water discharges into the Indian River Lagoon from the C-54 canal. This 10,000 acre wetland is one of the largest wetland restoration projects in history, giving b back lost habitat to wildlife, waterfowl and fish.

Five stars for the history! The Houses of Refuge were federally operated life saving stations that…read morewere built on the beach so that the keeper could rescue ship wreck victims during a time period when the main form of travel and hauling goods was by ship. The houses were spread approximately 20 miles apart along Florida's coast and were often very isolated. They were all built exactly alike with a main house, a cistern, and boat house. The house that was nearest to where I live, the Orange Grove House of Refuge was the last place barefoot mailman Ed Hamilton spent the night before he disappeared forever into the Hillsboro inlet. What exactly happened to him is a mystery that has never been solved. The houses of refuge are long gone except for the House of Refuge Museum at Gilbert's Bar in Stuart which you can still visit today. I have visited that house as well as discovered several of these historical house of refuge markers along the east coast of Florida as far south as Miami. In 1915 the Life Saving Service became the US Coast Guard. The Bethel Creek House of Refuge is also no longer here. It was the first house of refuge constructed on the east coast of Florida and was active from 1876-1936. It once stood in what is now the Jaycee Beach Park and there is a historical marker in the park dedicated to it erected in 2013 by Florida Society Colonial Dames XVII Century Ann Waggaman, President. Surrounding the marker are blocks from the foundation of the Bethel Creek House of Refuge. The first keeper of this house was John Houston. In 1917 the Bethel Creek House of Refuge was destroyed by a fire and replaced by a building that was removed in 1936. During WWII the station was reopened with a 40 foot watch tower to look for German U-Boats off the coast. In 1950 the Federal Government gave these 8 acres of land the the city of Vero beach who developed it in to the Jaycee Park in 1956.