@meganexploresitall's Review of Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge - Stuart, FL

I'm currently standing in front of one of the most historic sites in all of Florida, the House of Refuge. Built in 1876 by the U.S. Life-Saving Service, the House of Refuge at Gilbert's Bar is anything but your typical beachfront mansion. It's the last standing life-saving station from a series of 10 along Florida's Atlantic coast designed to rescue shipwrecked sailors who were in major trouble. In the age of sailing vessels, the lower east coast of Florida was the wild west of the sea. Dangerous and unpredictable. Rough weather, sneaky reefs, and an unfriendly landscape turned many voyages into misadventures the u.s life-saving service became the heroes of the day building five houses of refuge between biscayne bay and vero beach that functioned as cozy life-saving pit stops for shipwrecked sailors each had a caretaker who patrolled the shore after storms to look for wreckage and help any sailors who washed up one famous shipwreck near the house of refuge is the george's valentine an italian brigantine that met its watery end just 100 yards off the rocky coast during world war one these houses became lookout towers for coastal defense and in 1955 martin county preserved history by purchasing the house of refuge and transforming it into a museum which also serves as a sanctuary for sea turtles today the house of refuge at gilbert's bar stands proud as the oldest structure in martin county and the last remaining house of refuge its museum showcases fascinating artifacts from shipwrecked sailors and the families who lived there is it haunted probably but is it fascinating oh yeah