A few Florida bottles in my collection

[Southern_Digger]

These two whiskeys were found along Indian River at an Old Pineapple Plantation site. The land was developed years ago with exception to adjacent woods. The landowner showed me a circa 1870-90 case gin that he found in his yard before it was seeded. He would not allow me to search or dig in the yard, but did allow me to search his woods. Not 50-ft into the woods, I found a surface trash pit with broken, embossed medicines, food bottles and such. These two bottles, circa 1880-1915 were lying on top of the ground, partially concealed by dead leaves.



This 1880-1900 case gin was dug by my mentor, an archeologist, during the early 1960's. It was found in the old Key West bottle dump, which existed in a marsh near to Fort Taylor. The marsh was eventually filled and it is now off-limits.



Fort Taylor was a redoubt in Key West built before, during and completed after the Civil War. I don't have a good picture of the exterior--perhaps you can google that. However, I have a few pictures of the interior. I took these during the Mel Fisher Atocha discovery exhibit, displayed inside the fort. I won't tell you how old these photo scans are ... but that child I am holding is my first born. She is now 32 years old.

 

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[Harry Pristis]

These two whiskeys were found along Indian River at an Old Pineapple Plantation site. The land was developed years ago with exception to adjacent woods. The landowner showed me a circa 1870-90 case gin that he found in his yard before it was seeded. He would not allow me to search or dig in the yard, but did allow me to search his woods. Not 50-ft into the woods, I found a surface trash pit with broken, embossed medicines, food bottles and such. These two bottles, circa 1880-1915 were lying on top of the ground, partially concealed by dead leaves.

This 1880-1900 case gin was dug by my mentor, an archeologist, during the early 1960's. It was found in the old Key West bottle dump, which existed in a marsh near to Fort Taylor. The marsh was eventually filled and it is now off-limits.

Fort Taylor was a redoubt in Key West built before, during and completed after the Civil War. I don't have a good picture of the exterior--perhaps you can google that. However, I have a few pictures of the interior. I took these during the Mel Fisher Atocha discovery exhibit, displayed inside the fort. I won't tell you how old these photo scans are ... but that child I am holding is my first born. She is now 32 years old.

It's great to hear the experiences of other Florida collectors! Even better when we can get a glimpse of local history. Here's another Florida find:

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This is a bottle I found years ago on the bank (private property) of the Suwannee River on the Gulf Coast of Florida. The bottle is an English onion from about 1700 (+/- 10 years).

At that time, the only European settlement in peninsular Florida was Spanish St. Augustine on the Atlantic Coast. At the same time,
English soldiers and slavers from the Carolina colonies were wiping out the Spanish missions to the Indians in the interior of the state. By 1710, the aboriginal Indians in North Florida had either moved westward out of Florida or were living in the immediate area of St. Augustine.

So, was my onion bottle brought to this remote area on the Gulf Coast of Florida by English soldiers and slavers? Maybe. This river does reach the area of the Spanish missions, and rivers were the routes of access to the interior.

But wait. At this same time, William Teach, the famous English pirate known as "Blackbeard" is reputed to have sheltered in the river. My onion bottle was found not far from the place where local lore holds that Blackbeard buried some treasure! The latest effort to locate that treasure was undertaken in 2012!

Wooden vessels were sailed up freshwater rivers in order to careen them. The sailors would tie ropes to trees on the bank and use winches to tip the ship. Once the hull was exposed, the sailors would scrape away the marine growth. Then they reversed the ship to clean the other side of the hull.

A clean hull meant less drag in the water. Less drag meant greater speed. Speed could be crucial if you were a pirate. Blackbeard was slain in 1718 in a fight with a British warship off the coast of Virginia.

 

[Tnmountains]

Great bottles guys. What fun history you all have in Florida. Glad you are saving it. So that 32 years ago was just like yesterday. Life is grand. Nice glass!

 

[Southern_Digger]

The Onion is a rare and beautiful find. The arch. who mentored me also did digs at Ft. Fanning and Ft. White--both military sites and the associated settlements. At one fort site, she told me a story of them finding a buried wine cellar loaded with bottles dating to the 1830's--supposedly, some sealed by wax and containing the beverage. She had many empty black glass bottles from that area. To this day, I have trouble believing they found unopened beverage, because, after extensively researching the Florida War, it became apparent that alcohol use was heavy. and often in short supply--thus why would it be abandoned? They were not attacked and did not abandon the post hastily. However, there was always the concern of disease such as yellow fever.

 

[Southern_Digger]

Great bottles guys. What fun history you all have in Florida. Glad you are saving it. So that 32 years ago was just like yesterday. Life is grand. Nice glass!

Yes! it goes fast when you have fun digging and diving and researching... Thank You.

 

[Harry Pristis]

The Onion is a rare and beautiful find. The arch. who mentored me also did digs at Ft. Fanning and Ft. White--both military sites and the associated settlements. At one fort site, she told me a story of them finding a buried wine cellar loaded with bottles dating to the 1830's--supposedly, some sealed by wax and containing the beverage. She had many empty black glass bottles from that area. To this day, I have trouble believing they found unopened beverage, because, after extensively researching the Florida War, it became apparent that alcohol use was heavy. and often in short supply--thus why would it be abandoned? They were not attacked and did not abandon the post hastily. However, there was always the concern of disease such as yellow fever.

She was describing the Fort King site in Ocala. As I recall, the fort was attacked by Seminoles in 1835. The suttler's store burned and collapsed onto the wine "cellar" (not much more than a hole in the ground). I've seen the personal photos by someone who participated in the original excavation. You can see some of the glass bottles, and other artifacts, from the fort at the Silver River Museum at Silver Springs, Florida.

 

[theonlinefisherman]

I was just looking at y'all's beautiful finds and collections and noticed that comment about the Suwanee. I have a friend with property on the ridge line populated from Paleo times until Spanish contact. We had found everything there from Clovis points to gun flints, but no bottles. The land there is rich in history though. All the a gulf coast is untouched. When I was a kid they used to mine the mounds for road gravel

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