The House of Refuge at Gilbert's Bar, also known as Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge, the House of Refuge Museum, or simply the House of Refuge, is a historic building located at 301 S.E. MacArthur Boulevard, on Hutchinson Island east of Stuart,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. It is the oldest surviving building in Martin County. This House of Refuge is the last remaining of the original dozen shipwreck life-saving stations on Florida's Atlantic Coast operated by the

United States Life-Saving Service The United States Life-Saving ServiceDespite the lack of hyphen in its insignia, the agency itself is hyphenated in government documents including: and was a United States government agency that grew out of private and local humanitarian effort ...

, one of the predecessor agencies to the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

. Built in 1876 to help stranded sailors, its long colorful history spans nearly 70 years. Today it is owned by the Martin County government and leased to the Martin County Historical Society, which operates it as a museum exhibiting life-saving equipment used over the years and showcasing the keeper's quarters, . On May 3, 1974, the House of Refuge was added to the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

National Register listing

* House of Refuge at Gilbert's Bar * (added 1974 - Building - #74000651) * Also known as Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge * North of Bathtub Beach on Hutchinson Island east of Stuart, Florida, Stuart * Historic Significance: Event * Area of Significance: Social History * Period of Significance: 1875-1899 * Owner: Local Gov't * Historic Function: Domestic, Government * Historic Sub-function: Hotel, Public Works * Current Sub-function: Museum, Research Facility

History

The House of Refuge is located at Gilbert's Bar (also called "Saint Lucie Rocks"), two miles north of what is now the St. Lucie Inlet on the coastal rocks of the

Anastasia Formation The Anastasia Formation is a geologic formation deposited in Florida during the Late Pleistocene epoch. Age Period : Quaternary Epoch: Pleistocene ~2.558 to 0.012 mya, calculates to a period of Faunal stage: Blancan through early Rancholabre ...

, one of the most prominent geologic outcroppings along the entire Eastern seaboard. The house was one of ten houses of refuge commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for the

as havens for shipwrecked sailors and travelers along the barren east coast of Florida. It is the only one that remains today. On March 19, 1875, William H. Hunt of Dade County granted the U.S.

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

lien A lien ( or ) is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. The owner of the property, who grants the lien, is referred to as the ''lienee'' and the pers ...

of 20 years for the piece of land at Saint Lucie Rocks known as Gilbert's Bar as a site for a house of refuge on the sea coast. According to the 1879 "Annual Report of the Life Saving Service" these houses of refuge along the east coast of Florida "contemplate no other life saving operations than affording succor to shipwrecked persons who may be cast ashore, and who, in the absence of such means of relief, would be liable to perish from hunger and thirst in that desolate region. Crews of surfmen are not needed here, but the keepers and members of their families are required to go along the beach, in both directions, in search of castaways immediately after a storm." Aerial view of Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge Stuart, Florida

Aerial view of Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge Stuart, Florida

It offered shelter to the survivors of the '' Georges Valentine'' shipwreck in 1904. Captain William E. Rea was the Keeper of the House of Refuge at the time and aided the seven survivors. On October 17, during the same storm the Spanish ship ''Cosme Calzado'' wrecked three miles north of the ''Georges Valentine'', but fifteen of the sixteen men survived. The surviving crew joined the survivors of the ''Georges Valentine'' at the House of Refuge. The men later returned home via Jacksonville, Florida except for one: Edward Sarkenglov remained and became a local fisherman. Captain Rea and his wife lived in the House of Refuge until May 1907. Gilbert's Bar Refuge

In 1915, the House of Refuge became U.S. Coast Guard Station #207 when the U.S. Life-Saving Service was combined with the

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to form the modern U.S. Coast Guard. The keeper, Axel Johansen, and his wife, Kate, continued to serve at the refuge; the title of his position was changed from "Keeper" to "Surfman #1." Four other men were stationed at the house, and during World War I the post of five was supplemented by local youths belonging to the Home Guard. The facility also served as a lookout for enemy submarines in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was saved by the Historical Society of Martin County in 1955, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Museum exhibits

The House of Refuge provides a look at turn of the 20th century living along the coast. Areas available for public viewing are the boathouse, kitchen, dining room, parlor, bedroom and a lookout tower constructed during World War II. New exhibit space includes a timeline of Hutchinson Island dating from 2000 BC to the hurricanes of 2004.

References

External links

House of Refuge Museum at Gilbert’s Bar

Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge LSS
at United States Coast Guard {{authority control Museums in Martin County, Florida Maritime museums in Florida Historic house museums in Florida National Register of Historic Places in Martin County, Florida Houses in Martin County, Florida Government buildings completed in 1876 Life-Saving Service stations Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida Stuart, Florida Life-Saving Service stations on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register listing

History

Museum exhibits

See also

References

External links