May have located a homesite from either 1843 or 1880 in Saint Petersburg, Florida

[godisnum1]

So <long post>... I've been meaning to check out a specific site here in Saint Petersburg that I knew an old Spanish homestead was once located back in 1843 (later inhabited by a French gentleman in 1880)... but just never got around to the spot to check it out. So on Friday, I took a half day off of work to go fishing (which was a bust, due to the storms). But while waiting for my buddy to show up so we could get our bait, I found myself waiting at the entrance to the property. So I finally took the opportunity to go look around (without my metal detectors), because I've got really good eyes and tend to find surface finds a lot. Upon walking to the spot, I noticed how the ground elevated up from the rest of the area, making it much higher than the beach that is only 50 feet away. Walking up, I spotted two very old cedar trees (not too common in our area) and a really old oak tree, right where the homestead was shown to be located on my map. Right at the base of the first cedar tree, I started to find really old iron strips all over the ground. I found nothing visually around the oak, other than a third old cedar that was growing out of it at some point, but was cut to a stump. I found chunkier pieces of old iron around the other old cedar tree... then found a REALLY rusty iron plate of some kind laying inside the hole at the base of the cedar. I left the plate there and took the handful of old iron and a worked sea shell ring (probably from the natives on the same property). Needless to say, I really want to go back with my metal detector and see what else is under the surface of this homestead. If you know where this site is, please keep it to yourself 🤫🤫🤫

Bran <><

 

[tomclark]

Bran, new signage..... dayum. A reminder to always get it while you can. double dayum.

 

[godisnum1]

Bran, new signage..... dayum. A reminder to always get it while you can. double dayum. View attachment 1858807

Whaaattttt??!!! Nooooooo! I got so excited at the possibility of detecting that site! That sure as heck is a brand new sign (look at that wood!) [emoji20] So I guess my question is now... where do I secure a permit? And is it to just keep people honest and away from the mounds? If so, I have no issues, as the spots I wanted to hit are no where near them. I do have that archaeologist friend who has wanted to come visit our area and detect it as well... so maybe he would have pull where a regular permit might not. I'll be looking into this... because I know that's the homestead site! Thanks for looking out! And let me know if you want to try to get out there with me sometime, with permits in hand. [emoji1434]

Bran <><

 

[tomclark]

That was my best place ever in town or anywhere.. It got designated an Historical site a while back but nothing was done to the site for a time. Complaints and scuffles went on with Frisbee jerks and beach walkers/hunters LOL. Frisbees won out. They put in frisbee nets on the mounds and trails all over them which led to more complaints about the mounds and some nets were taken out. Still the frisbee people came in droves to the park that didn't see hardly any picnic'ers for years. Then the city put up signs you can't pick up shells. Then they dumped tons of rip rap along the eroding edge of one part of the mound. Some arch projects were done by Eckerd College and other groups in several spots including the little creek/cypress spot and in front of the bathrooms down by the water. The first spot was written up and published they got a point or two and some shell stuff. I donated every single piece of historical pottery to Weeden Island Center that I found in over 25 years of walking that beach and around.

 

[Tristan De Luna]

View attachment 1858829That was my best place ever in town or anywhere.. It got designated an Historical site a while back but nothing was done to the site for a time. Complaints and scuffles went on with Frisbee jerks and beach walkers/hunters LOL. Frisbees won out. They put in frisbee nets on the mounds and trails all over them which led to more complaints about the mounds and some nets were taken out. Still the frisbee people came in droves to the park that didn't see hardly any picnic'ers for years. Then the city put up signs you can't pick up shells. Then they dumped tons of rip rap along the eroding edge of one part of the mound. Some arch projects were done by Eckerd College and other groups in several spots including the little creek/cypress spot and in front of the bathrooms down by the water. The first spot was written up and published they got a point or two and some shell stuff. I donated every single piece of historical pottery to Weeden Island Center that I found in over 25 years of walking that beach and around. View attachment 1858837

We gotta figure this out. It's funny we where just talking about this .

 

[godisnum1]

View attachment 1858829That was my best place ever in town or anywhere.. It got designated an Historical site a while back but nothing was done to the site for a time. Complaints and scuffles went on with Frisbee jerks and beach walkers/hunters LOL. Frisbees won out. They put in frisbee nets on the mounds and trails all over them which led to more complaints about the mounds and some nets were taken out. Still the frisbee people came in droves to the park that didn't see hardly any picnic'ers for years. Then the city put up signs you can't pick up shells. Then they dumped tons of rip rap along the eroding edge of one part of the mound. Some arch projects were done by Eckerd College and other groups in several spots including the little creek/cypress spot and in front of the bathrooms down by the water. The first spot was written up and published they got a point or two and some shell stuff. I donated every single piece of historical pottery to Weeden Island Center that I found in over 25 years of walking that beach and around. View attachment 1858837

Gosh, that's so sad and exciting at the same time. I would really love to visit Weedon Island to see your finds, if they're on display. I used to work with the Central Gulf Coast Archaeological Society for 6 years while back in high school... so I know how many of our local primitive finds end up "cataloged" in ziplocs and then organized into boxes, then placed into closets... likely to never see the light of day, sadly. But I absolutely love and am obsessed with Florida history, especially here at home in St Pete. It's just so difficult to find anything worth pursuing around here that hasn't already been paved over, built over, turned into a park or preserve, or made a historically protected area. [emoji20] Well, I guess I'll have to keep searching. I've got a water machine (Nokta Makro Anfibio Multi) now too, so I can expand out into some of the water areas as well.

Bran <><

 

[Tristan De Luna]

See Dr. Clark we gotta get you in the water

 

[godisnum1]

View attachment 1858829That was my best place ever in town or anywhere.. It got designated an Historical site a while back but nothing was done to the site for a time. Complaints and scuffles went on with Frisbee jerks and beach walkers/hunters LOL. Frisbees won out. They put in frisbee nets on the mounds and trails all over them which led to more complaints about the mounds and some nets were taken out. Still the frisbee people came in droves to the park that didn't see hardly any picnic'ers for years. Then the city put up signs you can't pick up shells. Then they dumped tons of rip rap along the eroding edge of one part of the mound. Some arch projects were done by Eckerd College and other groups in several spots including the little creek/cypress spot and in front of the bathrooms down by the water. The first spot was written up and published they got a point or two and some shell stuff. I donated every single piece of historical pottery to Weeden Island Center that I found in over 25 years of walking that beach and around. View attachment 1858837

Yep, their current policies are pretty much a no-go to anything other than water & beach detecting. [emoji20]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1frSPP39wdy6zt24gLqbKikpKnBxP-0mv/view?usp=drivesdk

 

[tomclark]

Jeez...ALL PARKS now I can see the historical ones but not the Jack-D regular parks. Look out folks it's coming to your town.

 

[tomclark]

Next time I find one of those diamond rings or some big gold necklace I'm buyin' one for in the water LOL A downtown "park" find...

 

[godisnum1]

Next time I find one of those diamond View attachment 1858908rings or some big gold necklace I'm buyin' one for in the water LOL A downtown "park" find...

That's a beauty! Looks vintage too. I'd highly suggest looking into the Nokta Makro Anfibio. It comes with stock (non-waterproof) Bluetooth wireless headphones and a coil cover. I think I probably spent a little under $1,200 by the time I also ordered the waterproof wired headphones and the underwater diving pinpointer (that also syncs to your wireless headphones at the same time for land use). And the promotion that KellyCo is running came with an extra coil, digger, and a AA waterproof battery case & stand. It was definitely a super deal! You're welcome to try it out sometime if you'd like.

Here's the link to it,

https://www.kellycodetectors.com/catalog/nokta-makro-anfibio-multi-metal-detector

 

[Tristan De Luna]

That's a beauty! Looks vintage too. I'd highly suggest looking into the Nokta Makro Anfibio. It comes with stock (non-waterproof) Bluetooth wireless headphones and a coil cover. I think I probably spent a little under $1,200 by the time I also ordered the waterproof wired headphones and the underwater diving pinpointer (that also syncs to your wireless headphones at the same time for land use). And the promotion that KellyCo is running came with an extra coil, digger, and a AA waterproof battery case & stand. It was definitely a super deal! You're welcome to try it out sometime if you'd like.

Here's the link to it,

https://www.kellycodetectors.com/catalog/nokta-makro-anfibio-multi-metal-detector

I wanna break in my Excalibur II. Dr Clark, godisnum1 lets find a spot worth exploring. I can bring the vanquish340 it's got a waterproof coil so Dr Clark can get wet .

 

[godisnum1]

I wanna break in my Excalibur II. Dr Clark, godisnum1 lets find a spot worth exploring. I can bring the vanquish340 it's got a waterproof coil so Dr Clark can get wet .

Sounds good! Just let me know. There's a small beach/park on the other side of the Skyway that I've also wanted to explore the flats with my detector. An old friend from church that's since passed found a piece of eight in ankle deep water in that area some years ago, so it would never hurt to do a bit of exploring sometime...

Bran <><

 

[Tristan De Luna]

Sounds good! Just let me know. There's a small beach/park on the other side of the Skyway that I've also wanted to explore the flats with my detector. An old friend from church that's since passed found a piece of eight in ankle deep water in that area some years ago, so it would never hurt to do a bit of exploring sometime...

Bran <><

I'm in Bran. Dr Clark how you feeling??