Another South Florida beach, another South Florida cannon...

[Jolly Mon]

Palm Beach Post, 27 Jun 1956


The site of the casino is basically the intersection of Lake Blvd. and A-1a in Lake Worth.

 

[TRG]

Any opinion from the cannon experts on vintage or place of manufacture?

 

[signal]

The Casino and south of it for about 1500ft is HEAVILY detected, definitely at about 30ft.....because of the shifting tide, I would say 100-150ft from shore has been fairly well canvased over the last several decades. I have known of this story for some time, but I am surprised further cannon were never discovered.

 

[capt dom]

View attachment 1488114View attachment 1488115View attachment 1488116Palm Beach Post, 27 Jun 1956The site of the casino is basically the intersection of Lake Blvd. and A-1a in Lake Worth.

My wife and I met Melvin Teeters about 10 years ago. He had a 56 foot LCM landing craft west of 95 in a salvage yard. He was an interesting guy. Think he use to fly B 58 Hustlers during the Cold War... Hope he is still around. The cannon trununion {probably spelled wrong} makes it appear to be post 1750... May have been a ballast cannon - if nothing else was ever found...

 

[Blak bart]

Almost looks like a canon ball sticking out of the muzzle.

 

[huntsman53]

The Casino and south of it for about 1500ft is HEAVILY detected, definitely at about 30ft.....because of the shifting tide, I would say 100-150ft from shore has been fairly well canvased over the last several decades. I have known of this story for some time, but I am surprised further cannon were never discovered.

The likely reason is because the ship that the cannon came off of, is either residing on the bottom of the Intercoastal Waterway or further North of Lake Worth. Like many others, I was unaware for the longest time that the barrier islands where the Lake Worth Casino and a lot of other structures sit and which makes up the Florida outer coast, are not natural and are actually man made East Florida?s Barrier Islands: Natural vs. Man-Made; By Dr. Charles W. Finkl | Coastal Care and are replenished quite regularly (well at least the beaches and ever so often, the barrier islands). In other words, the barrier islands did not exist until the 1920's and it is quite possible some Spanish and other shipwrecks lay in the Intercoastal Waterway and off the original East coast of Florida. Due to this, it is likely that a few Spanish Galleons have virtually went untouched and possibly unfound and are now protected from anyone truly salvaging or disturbing them. For the longest time, I thought that coins and other less heavy parts/treasures from Spanish or other shipwrecks could have been blown across the barrier islands by the Hurricane that sunk them or by some that have occurred since as was the case on some of the Florida Keys (Islands). I won't expound any further concerning finds in the Florida Keys but will suffice to say that coins that were once in the Atlantic, ended up in the Gulf.


Frank