Fort Van Swearingen, Indiantown, St. Lucie

[signal]

I was wondering if anyone had any information on Fort Van Swearingen and its location? I have the location from the book Forts, Camps and Batteries of Florida, which puts it at 27 14'N 80 '40W. I have also read where some believe it to be on either side of whats known as Van Swearingen Creek, which is at 27°13'12.00"N 80°38'30.97"W. On Google Earth it hardly looks like a creek these days however. I have also seen some say its near 27 12'36N 80 34'49W.

In the following publication:

[Letter]

Edward T. Keenan
The Florida Historical Quarterly , Vol. 39, No. 3 (Jan., 1961), pp. 298-302
Published by: Florida Historical Society
Article Stable URL: JSTOR: An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie

It mentions that its location is at Sec. 33, T-37-S, R-37-E, which I have to believe is some sort of Plat description, does anyone know how to convert this to GPS? Also the article says the following about the location:

"The post was in St. Lucie County. To reach the site today one may take a country road leading east from the Sherman R.R. Station, a few miles S.E. of Okeechobee, go about eight miles until one comes to a bridge. The fort was just across the bridge: Sec. 33, T-37-S, R-37-E"

So a few things. First those directions written in 1961 assume someone knows the location of the old Seaboard Air Line station called Sherman. I can find no information on this, no gps coordinates, and I am not sure if it exists still. I have located the rail line going through Indiantown, but not sure if its the same as may have existed in 1961. If anyone has any information on the Sherman RR Station in Indiantown please let me know. Without knowing the location of Sherman or being able to understand those plat coordinates, I am at a loss.

 

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[signal]

using this site: Township 37 South, Range 37 East, Tallahassee Meridian, United States - Histopolis
I was able to figure that Sec33 T37S R37E is likely

Latitude

27.2502462

27° 15' 00.9" N, Longitude -80.6290146 80° 37' 44.5" W

I do not see any bridge, country road, or body of water that may stand out, however I may take a drive out there.

 

[Jon Phillips]

Here you go.

 

[signal]

Here you go.

Jon, thanks for the post. So I deduce that this is a likely spot for Fort Swearingen, what do you think, it appears to match up with your map:



Now my next job is to figure out if I can find out the status of the site (private, public).

 

[Jon Phillips]

Yep. Looks about right.

Go to the Property Appraiser website for the county it is in. Use the GIS search. Identify the parcel, and it will tell you who owns it.

 

[JackInFlorida]

Hey signal,

Here is some information from my research a couple years back:

Second Seminole War Fort. Located about 18 miles west of today's town of Fort Pierce. To reach it, follow route 70 west 18 miles to Bluefield Road. Turn south on Bluefield and follow it 1 ½ miles (if it goes that far), to the crossing of Van Swearingen Creek. The fort was along the banks of the creek.

Don't have anything more detailed. Good luck.

 

[ECS]

Named for Capt J Van Swearingen,who was killed in the BATTLE of OKEECHOBEE,the post was located 6 mi northeast of Lake Okeechobee (near Zana) and 11 mi southeast of Fort Floyd in Okeechobee,and northeast of Indiantown.
Fort Floyd was erected in 1838,near Lake Okeechobee.

 

[jliller]

Just curious if anything more came of this search for Fort Van Swearingen? I live in this part of Florida. I recall seeing random highway maps over the years that showed Fort Van Swearingen as a community name on Beeline Highway (SR 710) between Okeechobee and Indiantown.

Bluefield Preserve is a county-owned natural area at the end of Bluefield Road. It mentions the fort in the brochure (self guided tour #6) - http://www.stlucieco.gov/pdfs/Bluefield_Ranch_Preserve_Brochure.pdf

An approximate location by my calculations would put it here: 27.220136,-80.638375 That is outside of the preserve boundry (on what I assume is private land) and would suggest the creek west of the preserve is Van Swearingen Creek. I don't think there is public access on Bluefield Ranch Road any farther west than the preserve parking area (I recall it being gated the one time I was there), but there do appear to be two places dirt roads cross that creek.

The railroad line between Okeechobee to Indiantown is, to my knowledge, where it was in 1961 and probably dates back to the early 1900s. Seaboard Air Line is now part of CSX, although locals often still call it by the old name since it is almost entirely passanger (Amtrak) traffic not freight. The highway between Okeechobee and Indiantown dates back to at least the 1940s. I did find a mention of Sherman, FL: Sherman Populated Place Profile / Okeechobee County, Florida Data The area isn't labeled as such by any signs that I've seen when passing through and there's nothing around except a few homes, an unbuilt housing development, and a gas station that has been closed for years. I don't see any roads from around that area that seem to connect with the vicinity of Bluefield, but they could have easily changed since 1961. Nubbin Slough is between Sherman and Bluefield - unless that is a newer name for Van Swearingen Creek?

 

[signal]

jliller,

Just about everything you have said is correct. It's owned privately now, just next to the public owned Bluefield Reserve. In fact, Bluefield reserve is so close to the old fort, that it probably has some artifacts on it as well. The private owner is well aware his land is the spot of the fort. He hired the state of florida archeologist to excavate it. What this means, is, as usual with such projects, you will find no information available to the public about this work, what was found, etc. Its as if the tax payers are paying for some secret mission. You accordingly will find none of the items on display anywhere either.

If you goto the site, you will find its fenced off, with very bizarre signs. For example some of the signs say there is laser testing going on, some talk about biohazard waste, many of the entrances have cameras (not sure if they are fake or real). Its like someone went WAY overboard in trying to discourage people from going there, to the point where it seems unrealistic that any of them are true, and just likely that they don't want people on the land.

 

[jliller]

Given the nature of the area I would think a bunch of "Trespassers Will Be Shot" signs would be more likely and appropriate.

Having dealt with a number of public land managers who have archaeological sites I'm not surprised at that kind of reaction. They are quite concerned that public awareness of such sites will lead to unauthorized digging for artifacts for profit. And such fears are usually not without substance, although a Seminole War fort would draw far less interest than say an Indian burial mound.

It's a shame for a dig like that not to at least result in an official public report (perhaps vague on location for security purposes).

The Bluefield property probably has alot of scattered artifacts from not only the fort but also the military trail which presumably passed through the SW corner of the property on its way to Fort Jupiter. Possibly also Seminole encampment. There was also plenty of 20th century activity: moonshining during prohibition, ranching, and hunting. You'd need to contact the county about the legality of artifact hunting there.

 

[signal]

Here is a portion of my correspondence that happened quite some time ago with the current owner:

"We know a lot about the Fort. We'd ID'd its precise location - different
from the general theory and different from the spot scavenger digs that took
place before we owned the land. At substantial personal expense, we've
engaged the services of Florida archeologist Bob Carr who, over a five-year
period with a team, has carefully archived hundreds of relics, specifically
outlined the fort's footprint and much more.

We're not interested in having additional relics outside of the collection."

 

[bofusmosby]

I've known Bob Carr for many years, and he understands the importance of the work we do as well. Unfortunately, there are those that get on a site, and litterally rape it, just for the sake of money and profit, with no consideration for the actual history. It's people like this that have ruined it for the rest of us. Back in the 70's, there were Fort Sites open all over the state, but little by little, they were closed due to the greed and distruction of a select few. So sad....

 

[jliller]

Whenever the Okeechobee Battlefield Historic State Park is developed enough to have a small visitors center some of the Van Swearingen artifacts might end up there.

 

[SonicFly]

I was wondering if anyone had any information on Fort Van Swearingen and its location? I have the location from the book Forts, Camps and Batteries of Florida, which puts it at 27 14'N 80 '40W. I have also read where some believe it to be on either side of whats known as Van Swearingen Creek, which is at 27°13'12.00"N 80°38'30.97"W. On Google Earth it hardly looks like a creek these days however. I have also seen some say its near 27 12'36N 80 34'49W.

In the following publication:

[Letter]

Edward T. Keenan
The Florida Historical Quarterly , Vol. 39, No. 3 (Jan., 1961), pp. 298-302
Published by: Florida Historical Society
Article Stable URL: JSTOR: An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie

It mentions that its location is at Sec. 33, T-37-S, R-37-E, which I have to believe is some sort of Plat description, does anyone know how to convert this to GPS? Also the article says the following about the location:

"The post was in St. Lucie County. To reach the site today one may take a country road leading east from the Sherman R.R. Station, a few miles S.E. of Okeechobee, go about eight miles until one comes to a bridge. The fort was just across the bridge: Sec. 33, T-37-S, R-37-E"

So a few things. First those directions written in 1961 assume someone knows the location of the old Seaboard Air Line station called Sherman. I can find no information on this, no gps coordinates, and I am not sure if it exists still. I have located the rail line going through Indiantown, but not sure if its the same as may have existed in 1961. If anyone has any information on the Sherman RR Station in Indiantown please let me know. Without knowing the location of Sherman or being able to understand those plat coordinates, I am at a loss.

My wife and I are interested and have been looking into this Fort too.