Here is a most interesting article that I recently came across in our archives. From the Miami Herald, it discusses the site of the Survivors and Salvagers Camp of the 1715 Fleet where the McLarty Treasure Museum is now located. The article also mentions Homer N. Cato who was instrumental in discovering the site. Cato was an amateur archaeologist who worked with Carl Clausen, the state’s archaeologist who was in charge of the site. Clausen felt that it was one of the most important sites of its kind in the state. The article notes that the location was used as an Ais Indian village at one time before the arrival of the Spanish. The property where the site is located was owned by Robert P. McLarty who donated it to the state in return for the state’s promise to build a museum there. The state kept its promise and that is where you will find the McLarty Treasure Museum, named for the former owner. Learn more about the McLarty Treasure Museum HERE.
