Monday, September 22, 2014

Orchid Island

The Survivors and Salvagers Camp is a historic site located on Orchid Island. It was here that survivors of the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet disaster washed up ashore, and established a camp while awaiting rescue. Subsequently, Orchid Island was also used by salvagers and sunken treasure seekers, attempting recovery of the 1715 fleet's gold. Currently, the McLarty Treasure Museum occupies part of the area.

The McLarty Treasure Museum (note: that's a pdf file) is located here today, and has many examples of the 1715 fleet's treasure and other artifacts on display.

Orchid Island and North Hutchinson Island are actually the same island, but for reasons foggy with the mists of time the island has different official names in different counties. Technically, by the book, the St. Lucie County part of it is called North Hutchinson Island and the Indian River County portion is called Orchid Island. However, nowadays, virtually everyone everywhere refers to it as Orchid Island.

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