Gilberts Bar (House of Refuge) Station Site

1875 contract entered into, building rapidly progressing; 1876 in the process of equipment; 1882 extensive repairs (USLSS Annual Reports). House turned over to the Department of the Interior in 1952. On March 19, 1875 the Secretary of the Treasury leased from William H. Hunt of Dade County, Florida for a period of 20 years a piece of land at Saint Lucie Rocks known and designated as Gilbert?s Bar as a site for a house of refuge; The station continued in active service under the Coast Guard until 1941 when the Navy started governing it as a patrol station for the beach. The station was closed entirely in 1945. By 1955, the station was the last House of Refuge on Florida?s east coast that was still in existence. It was maintained as a museum (USCG Historian's Website).