House of Refuge at Gilbert's Bar
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House of Refuge at Gilbert's Bar
(Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge) |
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| Location |
301 S.E. MacArthur Boulevard |
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| Coordinates | 27°11′58″N 80°09′56″W / 27.19954°N 80.16563°WCoordinates: 27°11′58″N 80°09′56″W / 27.19954°N 80.16563°W |
| Built | 1876 |
| NRHP Reference # | 74000651 |
| Added to NRHP | May 3, 1974 |
301 S.E. MacArthur Boulevard
Hutchinson Island
The House of Refuge at Gilbert's Bar, also known as Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge, the House of Refuge Museum, or simply the House of Refuge, is an historic building located at 301 S.E. MacArthur Boulevard, on Hutchinson Island east of Stuart, Florida. It is the oldest surviving building in Martin County.
This House of Refuge is the last remaining of nearly a dozen shipwreck life-saving stations on Florida's Atlantic Coast. Built in 1876 to help stranded sailors, its long colorful history spans nearly 70 years. Today it is owned by the Martin County government and leased to the Martin County Historical Society, which operates it as a museum exhibiting life-saving equipment used over the years and showcasing the keeper's quarters, c. 1904. On May 3, 1974, the House of Refuge was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The House of Refuge is situated on the coastal rocks of the Anastasia Formation, one of the most prominent geologic outcroppings along the entire Eastern seaboard. The house was one of ten houses of refuge commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for the United States Life-Saving Service as havens for shipwrecked sailors and travelers along the barren east coast of Florida. It is the only one that remains today.
It offered shelter to the survivors of the Georges Valentine shipwreck in 1904. Captain William E. Rea was the Keeper of the House of Refuge at the time and aided the seven survivors. On October 17, during the same storm the Spanish ship Cosme Calzado wrecked three miles north of the Georges Valentine, but fifteen of the sixteen men survived. The surviving crew joined the survivors of the Georges Valentine at the House of Refuge. The men later returned home via Jacksonville, Florida except for one: Edward Sarkenglov remained and became a local fisherman. Captain Rea and his wife lived in the House of Refuge until May 1907.
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