2nd Seminole War BRICKS

[EagleEye1]

Anyone out there familiar with the bricks that the Forts made on location apparently (as their requests for bricks from up North were denied) and what to look for etc?

There are two locations were I have personally seen these bricks and at Fort King they have almost identical on display that were made there at the Fort. They were used for Chimneys, foundations etc and of poor quality often resulting in structure fire.

To get to the point, one area that wasn't known to ever have a Fort (but not far off) I found a few. I recently read an article that confirmed that troops had stayed in this area at least for ONE night, so perhaps dropped a few or the Seminoles stole some at some point or locals reused them later. Who knows.

Has anyone ever found any or have more 411 on this aspect of the 2nd Seminole War? Attached are the pictures and you can see the porous and inferior quality of them and how all 4 pieces match up to my eye. One does have a good more quality shape to it on one side, but matches in every other way. As for this area, there were 3 local brick factories decades later and I have seen those and they do not look similar at all, nor would they be in this area in such a small quantity. I attached pictures from the ones found at Fort King (Ocala) and a short article: Section F

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[godisnum1]

Great finds! I know nothing about bricks, but found this one at the site where I found my Spanish Reale. Looks clay? I snapped a couple photos, just in case. Maybe someone on here is good at IDing bricks. Yours, of course, look much older and aged.

Bran <><

 

[Florida Finder]

Hello Eagle. I have several bricks from different SSW forts and they look like yours.

 

[EagleEye1]

Hello Eagle. I have several bricks from different SSW forts and they look like yours.

Thank you for the reply! Yeah, I was 99% sure, but that 1% was eating at me lol.

 

[ColonelDan]

We brought Eagle Eye onto the Fort Lane Search Team within the last two weeks and through his historical research, he's already made some very significant contributions to the overall effort.

Great Job!

 

[EagleEye1]

We brought Eagle Eye onto the Fort Lane Search Team within the last two weeks and through his historical research, he's already made some very significant contributions to the overall effort.

Great Job!

He's being too kind. I just find the pull tabs and get those out of the way for them to get to work finding the real stuff! Lol. I appreciate the kind words and I feel much is to be found via historical research, painting a picture of the Soldiers that were there and also passed through there as well as their daily lives at the Fort etc. The more names I can get the better with all the info online now. Sadly, pensions weren't a thing it appears during that time, so thus why it is so hard to get the info and skirmishes weren't always reported perhaps or articles/reports of such were just lost through time.

I have been very active in non-metal detecting.... Native American artifacts, historical roads, buildings and just an overall history buff etc and mostly local as well. BUT, I have knowledge in metal-detecting and have one now (finally!) and so far so good at a local park of 1890's era stuff. I don't think most know that bricks were even part of these Forts and I sure didn't until visiting the Museum at Fort King (Ocala).

 

[godisnum1]

He's being too kind. I just find the pull tabs and get those out of the way for them to get to work finding the real stuff! Lol. I appreciate the kind words and I feel much is to be found via historical research, painting a picture of the Soldiers that were there and also passed through there as well as their daily lives at the Fort etc. The more names I can get the better with all the info online now. Sadly, pensions weren't a thing it appears during that time, so thus why it is so hard to get the info and skirmishes weren't always reported perhaps or articles/reports of such were just lost through time.

I have been very active in non-metal detecting.... Native American artifacts, historical roads, buildings and just an overall history buff etc and mostly local as well. BUT, I have knowledge in metal-detecting and have one now (finally!) and so far so good at a local park of 1890's era stuff. I don't think most know that bricks were even part of these Forts and I sure didn't until visiting the Museum at Fort King (Ocala).

That's really fascinating! I'm envious and wish I had that kind of opportunity here, as I once volunteered & participated on digs with our Central Gulf Coast Archaeological Society for about 5-6 years back in high school... and would love to be more involved with the recovery of history here in our area again. I'm unsure what happened to most of those artifacts after our local Science Center shut down some time ago.

I tried to get the permission from the director of our county parks down here in Saint Petersburg to (and I didn't share this part) locate the homestead of one of the first Spanish settlers in our area... as I had already physically located a lot of surface iron exactly where I had the cabin marked on my late 1800's map... but due to Archaeological Native mounds on the opposite end of the property, he declined to give me permission to detect at the property without being apart of a group he mentioned from USF that will occasionally do research-based exploration. It really is disappointing to get shut down like that, as I really enjoy metal detecting to get a good picture of what was once under the ground that everyone else plays and picnics on. These historical markers of our area will simply rust & decay away with time.[emoji17]

Bran <><

 

[ColonelDan]

Interesting video!

 

[EagleEye1]

Interesting video!

Thank you. Anyone on here that is interested in the Seminole War history of our State, I would strongly suggest visiting Fort King. It is the Fort where all roads led to at the time and all passed through at some point. It is an epic experience and now that they have the Fort reproduction (ca 2017) done in a very accurate way on the EXACT spot and of the EXACT size along with a lot of artifacts found on site recently and a museum, it is well worth the visit and it's free. It's one of those places you can just "feel the history" and nice walking trails are there as well etc. Silver Springs is very nearby to the NE as well and this is in Ocala, FL. Here is a more personal video from a youtuber I like that recently went there. He goes all over the State reviewing things and places and this is a pretty good review....

 

[EagleEye1]

That's really fascinating! I'm envious and wish I had that kind of opportunity here, as I once volunteered & participated on digs with our Central Gulf Coast Archaeological Society for about 5-6 years back in high school... and would love to be more involved with the recovery of history here in our area again. I'm unsure what happened to most of those artifacts after our local Science Center shut down some time ago.

I tried to get the permission from the director of our county parks down here in Saint Petersburg to (and I didn't share this part) locate the homestead of one of the first Spanish settlers in our area... as I had already physically located a lot of surface iron exactly where I had the cabin marked on my late 1800's map... but due to Archaeological Native mounds on the opposite end of the property, he declined to give me permission to detect at the property without being apart of a group he mentioned from USF that will occasionally do research-based exploration. It really is disappointing to get shut down like that, as I really enjoy metal detecting to get a good picture of what was once under the ground that everyone else plays and picnics on. These historical markers of our area will simply rust & decay away with time.[emoji17]

Bran <><

It is frustrating indeed. You know that places are being paved over, yet legally can't detect. It's also important to note, that most sites of any historical value and the artifacts found within, were by local's and turned in then or once an older family member passed away. I fully understand that we have bad elements and looters that try to make profit via selling or this and that, but most people seem more interested in the history than our State and the endless red tape that prevents anything from being documented before it is lost to water, parks and/or public activity in the area. There is a really interesting Native American mound near I that is "party central" for air boaters, the State knows about this spot, but it is beyond the point of doing a true "retrace" of how it was exactly. It is one dog, kid/adult, or airboat away from the destruction of something that existed for 500-3000 years ago intact and I have constantly noticed this over the years. I don't blame either party, but like you said, things are just being lost to decay and rust etc or in the case of said mound, to water and/or modern activities. And sadly, there are so many different groups in our State that do the archeological aspects, but some are more interested in modern politically correct stuff than actual factual history it appears (please don't get me started on that one lol), but good lord! And funding is always an issue as well. I don't really know what the answer or correct approach is at this point when speaking in terms of our State as a whole and our shared history...

 

[godisnum1]

It is frustrating indeed. You know that places are being paved over, yet legally can't detect. It's also important to note, that most sites of any historical value and the artifacts found within, were by local's and turned in then or once an older family member passed away. I fully understand that we have bad elements and looters that try to make profit via selling or this and that, but most people seem more interested in the history than our State and the endless red tape that prevents anything from being documented before it is lost to water, parks and/or public activity in the area. There is a really interesting Native American mound near I that is "party central" for air boaters, the State knows about this spot, but it is beyond the point of doing a true "retrace" of how it was exactly. It is one dog, kid/adult, or airboat away from the destruction of something that existed for 500-3000 years ago intact and I have constantly noticed this over the years. I don't blame either party, but like you said, things are just being lost to decay and rust etc or in the case of said mound, to water and/or modern activities. And sadly, there are so many different groups in our State that do the archeological aspects, but some are more interested in modern politically correct stuff than actual factual history it appears (please don't get me started on that one lol), but good lord! And funding is always an issue as well. I don't really know what the answer or correct approach is at this point when speaking in terms of our State as a whole and our shared history...

Yep, I think you get it completely too. *sigh* It's so sad to see our history become lost, without the legal means to recover it. And yes, as far as PC goes, this particular park was also one of the primary beaches used by the Blacks in our area during the period of segregation. So there's also a chance to find things from that more modern period... which regardless if it is considered "good" history or "bad" history, it's still OUR history and should be brought to the same table of appreciation and rememberance of how far we've come as a society.

That's so sad to hear of that mound being lost to people destroying it. I guess if it's not valuable enough to the State, it likely will just fade away over time. [emoji17]

Oh yeah, poor funding is always the go-to reason for the Archaeological community not being able to pursue new discoveries... but we, as citizens, are still unable to recover it ourselves because we're not archaeologists. But being how I've seen how many of the artifacts are handled & stored (more on the stored side... once cataloged, boxed, and stored in closets because once again, they don't have the funding to showcase these artifacts for the public... so no one ever sees them or gets to appreciate their historical context for our State's rich history).

To your point... there WAS a time where citizens found plenty of artifacts & relics, being later given to a museum or historical society. A guy I spoke with about this particular park just donated 30 years worth of remarkable finds from that park to another park & history center on the other side of our town. I still need to go see it myself, at I've only read the vast list of his finds, but would love to see them and take photos of them to connect it with that park. Anyway, I guess we just keep trying to find what we can where we (legally) can, in hopes of recovering as much of that potentially lost history before it's lost for good. [emoji1431]

Bran <><