VOLUMES
Safe Haven “Gilbert’s Bar House of Refuge: Home of History”
A new book details the
history of Stuart’s House of
Refuge, a beacon off a once
treacherous sailing ground
BY JANIE GOULD
The earliest sign of civilization in present-day Martin
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County, the Gilbert’s Bar House of Refuge was built
when Ulysses S. Grant was president. A hundredthirty
two years and countless hurricanes later, the
building is still standing on a precariously narrow
spit of land between the ocean and Intracoastal Waterway.
In their new book, “Gilbert’s Bar House of Refuge: Home of
History,” historian Sandra Thurlow and her daughter-in-law,
Deanna Thurlow, tell the story of the structure that the U.S.
Lifesaving Service built when less than 300 hardy souls lived
in Southeast Florida in 1876, there were few roads and the
Florida East Coast Railway wasn’t even on the horizon. The
Intracoastal Waterway was the only highway, and oceangoing
vessels sailed with the Gulf Stream, which flowed perilously
close to the shoreline.
So there was a great deal of shipping off South Florida, but
a lot of the ships got into trouble at sea. Gilbert’s Bar itself
was one of the most treacherous sailing grounds. The bar was
named for the pirate Don Pedro Gilbert who reportedly used
his knowledge of the reef to trick ships into running aground.
Many sank in hurricanes or foundered on reefs close to
shore. Crewmen who were lucky enough to make it to shore
then got stranded in wilderness. The life-saving service built
10 houses of refuge between Flagler Beach, north of Daytona
Beach, and Miami to provide food and shelter to shipwreck
victims. The Gilbert’s Bar House of Refuge is the only one that
hasn’t disappeared.
One of the most memorable wrecks was of the Georges
Valentine, an Italian vessel loaded with lumber that sank in
1904 after being tossed around by a hurricane for three days.
Crewmen who made it to shore had almost been “skinned
alive” at sea, according to Mrs. William Rea, whose husband
was keeper of the house of refuge.
“My husband gave them brandy and put them to bed,” Mrs.
Rea said, in a 1932 article by Helen Van Hoy Smith. “The rest
of the night he spent walking the beach. By dawn five more
men had been rescued while clinging to floating timber. Their
clothes were in tatters and they were so chilled and exhausted
that they were unable to speak.”
The book is beautifully written and packaged. Deanna
Thurlow handled the design and printing preparation. Sandra
Thurlow did meticulous research, utilizing shipwreck reports,
pioneers’ memoirs, government records, personal interviews,
and newspaper articles. Sidebars shed light on how people
lived in 19th century South Florida. In an 1898 report called
“Florida Sport,” John Danforth writes about black bears roaming
the beach and described turtle hunting. Once he tried
Authors: Sandra Henderson Thurlow
and Deanna Wintercorn Thurlow
Publisher: Sewall’s Point Co., 2008
Proceeds benefit Historical Society of Martin County
and Gilbert’s Bar House of Refuge Museum
unsuccessfully
to turn a large
sea turtle over on
its back, which
was the standard
way of incapacitating
it.
Pages: 95
“We never
got the flippers
a foot from the
sand when the
mighty strength
of the turtle
threw us about,
rolled Ben over
in the sand,
who was soon
on his feet and
into the struggle
again,” he wrote.
But then a large
wave struck them, and the turtle got away. Later, the men went
to the turtle’s nest on the beach and took out 183 eggs, he said.
For breakfast, they had an omelets made from 20 turtle eggs.
In 1915, the House of Refuge became a Coast Guard station.
During World War II, Coast Guardsmen patrolled the beaches
on horseback.
“The patrols were enlivened by the many wild pigs encountered
along the beaches as well as the ever-present sand flies,”
James Harrington wrote in 1995. He also remembered that it
was colder at night than in Pennsylvania. “On some occasions,
I can remember having worn so many clothes that it was difficult
to get on the horse.”
The Coast Guard station was closed in 1945. The building remained
vacant for a decade until the Martin County Historical
Society preserved it as a museum. It also became a refuge for
sea turtles, which had been hunted nearly to extinction. Marine
biologist Ross Witham, later known as Martin County’s “Turtle
Man,” started a turtle conservation program there and had a
“headstart” program to raise and release green turtles.
The eyes of three hurricanes — Jeanne and Frances in 2004
and Wilma in 2005 — passed over the House of Refuge, but
none of them brought it down. Like South Florida itself, Gilbert’s
Bar House of Refuge seems to be indestructible.
Janie Gould hosts “Floridays,” an interview show about old Florida,
every Friday at 7:20 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. on WQCS radio, 88.9
FM. You can hear previous “Floridays” shows by going to wqcs.org,
clicking on Audio Archive and then on Programs. To hear Gould’s
“Road Map” travel feature about the Gilbert Bar House of Refuge, go
to wqcs.org and click on News.
/wqcs.org
/wqcs.org