Last night we went on a preliminary investigation at the Old Fort. We knew weather would be an issue due to thunderstorms in the area, but we felt like it would be a good night to get a feel for what we would be up against. We arrived at the location and were disappointed to see that there were other people already there, apparently on the top of the mound. Since the Fort is sometimes known as a ‘lovers lane’, we felt it wise to give them a wide berth.

We decided to attempt a few photos, video and sound recordings. We headed to the area of interest from our scouting expedition, the north west corner of the lot. There was a strong smell of decay in this area, although there were no remains that were visible. We proceeded from there around the back of the mound. At this location we both experienced a sense of unease; however, this is near the East Coast Railway hookup station, so we will need to check the area for high EMF readings.

As we came around the front of the mound, we continued to take pictures and record audio and video. The video showed nothing interesting and the audio (a sample of which is posted below) was virtually useless due to the excessive noise coming from the Railway station.

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Wrapping up for the night, we headed home and reviewed the images we’d captured. We were interested by two anomalies in the images, which can be seen in the gallery below. The first was an odd red light that appeared at random locations through out the park. There was no actual light in the area that would have caused this, but after deliberating over the images, we realized that it was caused by lightning in an offshore storm.

The second anomaly came in the form of two nearly blank images. These were the last two photographs of the night and were taken as we headed back to the car. Both were direct shots of the burial mound. What makes them so interesting is that, while you can see light points in them, there is nothing in the images. Despite the fact that every other image taken has at least something in it (tree, leaves, ground), these two are empty.

While we find it interesting, there is nothing here that is of any real use. We will be going back to the Fort at another time, hopefully in better weather and without company.

This location is going to prove difficult for any small research team. There are two separate trails; one leading to the graveyard and one leading to the burial mounds. Both paths are littered with debris and overgrown with weeds. The path to the graveyard winds through the woods and will be nearly impossible to find in the dark without the use of night vision.

Additionally, Spruce Bluff has been surrounded by housing developments. Roads encircle it, creating the typical traffic issues of shadows and sounds. There are electric and telephone lines on the outside of the park grounds, but no improvements within the park are visible. There are no underground cable or line markers; however, with such a large amount of housing in the area, there very well might be unmarked lines.

For those interested, here are some images from the scouting expedition.

After the end of the Second Seminole War, Congress passed the Armed Occupation Act, which provided for the settlement of the unsettled part of east Florida. (That was 1842; Florida became a state in 1845.) Under the Armed Occupation Act, any head of family or single man eighteen or over, was able to claim 160 acres of land, south of Cedar Key and Palatka, Florida. Under the law, the man must live on for five years and put at least five acres under cultivation. This Act enabled thousands of people to move to Florida to settle the region.

John Enos Fultz Jr., originally from South Carolina, was one of those people. He founded a settlement at a location called Spruce Bluff in 1889, when he moved to homestead 160 acres on Winter Creek. Other settlers soon followed. Through the 1890’s they tried pineapple farming, which was being done successfully all around Stuart, Jensen and up toward Ft. Pierce, clearing the land to make their fortune in pineapples, much of which was transported to northern markets, such as New York.

In the late 1890’s, William and Harley Crews came to Spruce Bluff to run a sawmill. John Fultz rowed and sailed the St. Lucie River to Stuart and back, to deliver mail, was paid $10 a month. Harry Hill raised bees and promoted the production of honey in local newspapers.

Times were hard for the settlers. Measles, Malaria, Chickenpox, and difficulties during childbirth took its toll. Many died very young. Mosquitoes were a constant problem. They built crude cabins, some with oiled-paper windows because they couldn’t afford glass panes. There were no roads in the area. All supplies and saleable products came up from Stuart or Rio in boats. Occasionally traveling ministers came down the coast on sailboats to preach to gatherings of settlers. Spruce Bluff eventually grew large enough to have a school and post office.

A freeze in the winter of 1894/95 killed most of the pineapples in the area. When the crop didn’t thrive, there were few options. Some settlers (like Fultz) left, going to Stuart or Ft. Pierce and by 1905 the original families had left Spruce Bluff. When St. Lucie County was formed in that same year, Fultz became the first clerk of the court and lived in Ft. Pierce with his second wife and family. He owned over 600 acres of Spruce Bluff when he died in 1921. Today, very little is left of the small community.

There is a cemetery located at the back of the property. This small cemetery contains the remains of 7 residents of Spruce Bluff and is all that has survived of the settlement, identified by headstones were 6, which were vandalized and replaced with the marble monument.

• George Fultz; died July 16, 1906 (38 years old); Son of John and Sarah Fultz
• Gertrude Fultz Winter; July 6, 1906 (28 years old); Daughter of John and Sarah Fultz; Wife of Ed Winter
• Arnold Winter; Age 5 years; Son of Ed and Gertrude Winter
• Infant Girl Crews; Daughter of William Frank and Mary Fultz Winter Crews
• Infant Son of Charles D. Blakeslee
• An older Child; Son of Charles D. Blakeslee

In addition to this cemetery, visitors to Spruce Bluff are often surprised to find that, yet again, the town was erected next to an ancient Ais burial mound. In this case, there were rumored to be three original mounds; two were razed to make way for the roads in the modern town of Port Saint Lucie.

We recently took a trip to the Old Fort to scout for the upcoming investigation. After spending quite a bit of time there, we noticed that there were four main areas of concern:

The steps are very steep and could pose a serious hazard in the dark. In addition, the park is large and will need to be worked in teams so that nobody gets hurt or lost.

The main road at the entrance to the park is quite busy and could easily cast shadows in through the trees.

There is a large pump house and electrical box located on the property. These could give false readings.

The railway runs directly behind the park, giving list to a host of electrical, sight and sound issues that must be kept in mind.

Now that we are aware of these issues, the investigation can be planned around them. For those who are interested, here are the pictures from the scouting expedition.

As we prepare for an in-depth exploration of the Old Fort Park, we felt it imperative to understand the history behind the location.

Old Fort Park is the site of Fort Pierce, a military installation constructed by the U.S. Army in Florida with the purpose of being a main supply depot for the army during the Second Seminole War. During the Second Seminole War (1835-1842), the U.S. Army began setting up military posts throughout the state of Florida. In 1837 Col. Benjamin K. Pierce (brother to the future 14th president) was sent down the Indian River from St. Augustine, charged with finding a location to build a base for operations in the area. Finding a fresh water spring, he chose his spot on a bluff overlooking the Indian River Lagoon. A year later, he built a fort out of palmetto trees.

Col. Pierce and his men were far from the first residents in the area, though the town is named after him. In fact, the fort itself was constructed near an ancient burial mound of the Ais Indians.

The mound is several hundred feet around, and a series of stone steps takes you to the top, where there is a beautiful view of the Indian River, named after the Ais. Although the Ais died out 250 years before the fort was built- long before the Seminoles migrated south from Alabama and Georgia- the survival of their structure compared to the vanishing of the soldiers’ fort, which burned to the ground in the 1840s, is quite remarkable.

We will be going out during the day to take pictures of the location and to scout for any situations that might interfere with the conduction of an investigation.