Canaveral Marshes LbNA #9261 (ARCHIVED)
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Add Location| Owner: | DrewFamily    |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Jan 1, 1989 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Titusville |
| County: | Orange |
| State: | Florida |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Found by: | NikkinJoe |
|---|---|
| Last found: | Jun 17, 2007 |
| Status: | FFFFFFFFFFFFFa |
| Last edited: | Jan 1, 1989 |
Clues for this historic letterbox are temporarily adopted by the Drew Family until Dr. Mings, one of the original American letterboxers, can reclaim them. We've never found this box and it is unlikely we'll try anytime soon. If anyone is going out this way, please consider bringing a new tupperware and ziplocks, just in case.
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Update April 2009: Hope this gets to you! Its about the box that was planted near Titusville. I know you know there was a recent controlled burn that caused the box to go missing, I thought I'd take a chance on it anyway. The exact spot is indeed nearly completely destroyed but I did some poking around anyway. After a few minutes I saw a piece of burnt wood that seemed out of place. When I took a better look at it I could tell that at some point in life it was a rubber stamp about 2 inches by 3. No trace of what the carve might have been, and it had a sticky goo on the rubber that held all sorts of twigs and dirt. I looked some more and found nothing else. I took the item in question with me in hopes of being able to get in contact with you. I cleaned it up the best I could. I did use it to stamp in my logbook and got an abstract. But like I said, its badly destroyed and has NO image. What would you like me to do next? Should I toss it? And if so would you mind if I planted a box near me (Fort Lauderdale, FL) in its memory?
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Update March 2009: Unfortunately this historic letterbox may finally be gone. Here is a note we recently recieved.
Just wanted to let you know that we searched for your Canaveral Marshes Letterbox on 3-6-09. Unfortunately, we did not find it. We believe we found the location after the 1/2 mile hike down the path, we found the oak tree
surrounded by palms. However all the palms had been burnt except for the one to the right of the oak (as mentioned in the Feb 2009 update). However there was nothing wedge in the bark or anywhere else on the ground.
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March 09: I saw that the last person could not find the box but we were in the area and tried anyway. While Threehearts had successfully rescued the box and replaced, the controlled fire appears to have ended this box. Also, the gate is now locked with barbed wire; I wonder if we are even to go past it anymore. We say 4 cranes, a mom wild pig and her babies and a baby alligator on 50 beforf we pulled in. Maybe Threeehearts can shed some light on the tree she placed it in for sure to help us once again. Shizuka
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Update February 2009: We hoped against hope that this piece of history survived the floodwaters of TS Fay, and we were rewarded by discovering it intact. The box was lying on the ground, exposed, in front of the oak tree. The new log and copied old log were inside, damp but in excellent shape. We were sad to find only the head of the gator stone in the box. As I was rehiding the box, I spotted a waterlogged baggie in the muck behind the oak. Hooray! It was the bag of stamps! I carefully removed all the pieces from the bag - including the original Bass. The stamp material has absorbed quite a bit of water, unfortunately adding to its crumbling state. We gingerly inked and stamped it and contributed one of our stamp pouches to the cause. The container lid is no longer watertight, so I double-bagged everything. The original hiding place between the palms is now below the rainy season water line. Out of necessity, I carefully hid the box wedged into the bark of the palm to the right of the oak, at eye level.
This precious piece of history has a greater chance of survival here. Thank you so much for maintaining this box and clues!
Three Hearts
-----
Update March 2004, from ***: The stamp was badly in need of repair. it is broken into several piecas and the material seems to be damaged from being waterlogged. Also, the person before us hid the box up off the ground a bit in the palm boot -- better for keeping dry. we put it back where we found it -- but we almost didn't find it since we were searching around the base. Maybe you could edit the clues a bit to help future searchers.
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Update 5/6/04 from ***: This box needed some TLC, just as the clues indicate. There’s another stamp in the box, made of stone, which is also broken.
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Note from the adoptive parents: The stone stamp mentioned above is probably part of another game the original planter, Dr Mings, developed called "Stone Stashing." The idea was to carve images into stone and simply hide the stone itself, without logbooks or ugly plastic boxes. There may still be a website devoted to that game...anyway, please enjoy these letterboxes, some of the first ever placed in North America.
-----
November 2004: This box has been gifted with special care by the amazing Box Angel named Catster, with a handcarved stamp from us and a handbound logbook from TeamGreenDragon. Despite hours of travel and the expense of hotel rooms, Catster has gone above and beyond the call of duty in refreshing this letterbox. As she says, "any letterbox that has survived 4 hurricanes should get a little extra love." We think that the original planter, Dr. Mings, would be proud. Thanks, C@!
<<
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Florida Fish Series Letterbox #1 - Orlando, FL area
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The box is in a park called "Canaveral Marshes Conservation Area" which is situated on the flood plains of the St. John's River and is about 30 miles from downtown Orlando. It is a very large and VERY primitive park. No facitilities of any sort! You park at the entrance and walk, bicycle, or horseback ride (if you have one) through the trails. This box is fairly close to the entrance of the park. I may place others more deeply in the interior. The entrance to the park is very easy to miss unless you are careful, it is only marked by a small sign at about knee level.
DIRECTIONS FROM ORLANDO: Take I-4 to a highway known as the East-West Expressway (also known as the highway 408). The 408 is just south of downtown Orlando. You must head EAST on this road. The road is a toll road and it will probably cost you a couple of dollars each direction. You will pass an interchange where the "Greenway" known as intersects with 408. DO NOT get off on 417, continue on the 408 east towards Titusville. Take it all the way to the last exit which is highway 50 (also know as Colonial Drive). After you get off on highway 50 continue east for quite a ways. You will pass through several small towns including Bithlo and Christmas. After you pass Christmas you are getting closer. You will know you are almost there when the pine forests that line the road give way to a large marsh which is the St. John's River flood plains. You will cross the St. John's River (very small at this point) where you will see an attraction called Midway Airboat Rides. The park is on the south side of highway 50 about 2 and 1/2 miles ahead. Look carefully, the entrance is VERY easy to miss. If you get to an auto salvage yard, you have gone too far.
DIRECTIONS FROM INTERSTATE 95: Here are the directions coming from Interstate 95 (which runs down the east coast of Florida). Get off on the highway 50 exit for Titusville Florida. Titusville has several exits so make sure you get off on highway 50. Head west on highway 50 about 2 and 1/2 miles. The park entrance is on the south side of the road (your left side). Again, it is very easy to miss particularly coming from this direction.&
INSIDE THE PARK: Once you find the entrance to the park, leave your vehicle next to the sign that describes the park (and has a map on the back side). Begin walking south on the dirt road towards the steel gates you see. You can see the gates easily from the sign, do not take the other road (that heads west). Go past the gates and continue walking about a half mile or so. Just at about the point you can no longer see the entrance gates behind you, you will come upon a steel cattle gate across a dirt road to your left. Continue straight ahead (i.e. don't go left through the cattle gate) about 100 average paces and you will see an Oak tree with several small palm trees around it's base on your RIGHT side. The box is wedged between two small palms at their base. You will need to walk off the path around to the back side to reach the box. Please put it back exactly as you found it so that it is not easily visible from the main path. Have fun!
-Eric Mings
-----
Update April 2009: Hope this gets to you! Its about the box that was planted near Titusville. I know you know there was a recent controlled burn that caused the box to go missing, I thought I'd take a chance on it anyway. The exact spot is indeed nearly completely destroyed but I did some poking around anyway. After a few minutes I saw a piece of burnt wood that seemed out of place. When I took a better look at it I could tell that at some point in life it was a rubber stamp about 2 inches by 3. No trace of what the carve might have been, and it had a sticky goo on the rubber that held all sorts of twigs and dirt. I looked some more and found nothing else. I took the item in question with me in hopes of being able to get in contact with you. I cleaned it up the best I could. I did use it to stamp in my logbook and got an abstract. But like I said, its badly destroyed and has NO image. What would you like me to do next? Should I toss it? And if so would you mind if I planted a box near me (Fort Lauderdale, FL) in its memory?
-----
Update March 2009: Unfortunately this historic letterbox may finally be gone. Here is a note we recently recieved.
Just wanted to let you know that we searched for your Canaveral Marshes Letterbox on 3-6-09. Unfortunately, we did not find it. We believe we found the location after the 1/2 mile hike down the path, we found the oak tree
surrounded by palms. However all the palms had been burnt except for the one to the right of the oak (as mentioned in the Feb 2009 update). However there was nothing wedge in the bark or anywhere else on the ground.
-----
March 09: I saw that the last person could not find the box but we were in the area and tried anyway. While Threehearts had successfully rescued the box and replaced, the controlled fire appears to have ended this box. Also, the gate is now locked with barbed wire; I wonder if we are even to go past it anymore. We say 4 cranes, a mom wild pig and her babies and a baby alligator on 50 beforf we pulled in. Maybe Threeehearts can shed some light on the tree she placed it in for sure to help us once again. Shizuka
-----
Update February 2009: We hoped against hope that this piece of history survived the floodwaters of TS Fay, and we were rewarded by discovering it intact. The box was lying on the ground, exposed, in front of the oak tree. The new log and copied old log were inside, damp but in excellent shape. We were sad to find only the head of the gator stone in the box. As I was rehiding the box, I spotted a waterlogged baggie in the muck behind the oak. Hooray! It was the bag of stamps! I carefully removed all the pieces from the bag - including the original Bass. The stamp material has absorbed quite a bit of water, unfortunately adding to its crumbling state. We gingerly inked and stamped it and contributed one of our stamp pouches to the cause. The container lid is no longer watertight, so I double-bagged everything. The original hiding place between the palms is now below the rainy season water line. Out of necessity, I carefully hid the box wedged into the bark of the palm to the right of the oak, at eye level.
This precious piece of history has a greater chance of survival here. Thank you so much for maintaining this box and clues!
Three Hearts
-----
Update March 2004, from ***: The stamp was badly in need of repair. it is broken into several piecas and the material seems to be damaged from being waterlogged. Also, the person before us hid the box up off the ground a bit in the palm boot -- better for keeping dry. we put it back where we found it -- but we almost didn't find it since we were searching around the base. Maybe you could edit the clues a bit to help future searchers.
-----
Update 5/6/04 from ***: This box needed some TLC, just as the clues indicate. There’s another stamp in the box, made of stone, which is also broken.
-----
Note from the adoptive parents: The stone stamp mentioned above is probably part of another game the original planter, Dr Mings, developed called "Stone Stashing." The idea was to carve images into stone and simply hide the stone itself, without logbooks or ugly plastic boxes. There may still be a website devoted to that game...anyway, please enjoy these letterboxes, some of the first ever placed in North America.
-----
November 2004: This box has been gifted with special care by the amazing Box Angel named Catster, with a handcarved stamp from us and a handbound logbook from TeamGreenDragon. Despite hours of travel and the expense of hotel rooms, Catster has gone above and beyond the call of duty in refreshing this letterbox. As she says, "any letterbox that has survived 4 hurricanes should get a little extra love." We think that the original planter, Dr. Mings, would be proud. Thanks, C@!
<<
-----
Florida Fish Series Letterbox #1 - Orlando, FL area
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The box is in a park called "Canaveral Marshes Conservation Area" which is situated on the flood plains of the St. John's River and is about 30 miles from downtown Orlando. It is a very large and VERY primitive park. No facitilities of any sort! You park at the entrance and walk, bicycle, or horseback ride (if you have one) through the trails. This box is fairly close to the entrance of the park. I may place others more deeply in the interior. The entrance to the park is very easy to miss unless you are careful, it is only marked by a small sign at about knee level.
DIRECTIONS FROM ORLANDO: Take I-4 to a highway known as the East-West Expressway (also known as the highway 408). The 408 is just south of downtown Orlando. You must head EAST on this road. The road is a toll road and it will probably cost you a couple of dollars each direction. You will pass an interchange where the "Greenway" known as intersects with 408. DO NOT get off on 417, continue on the 408 east towards Titusville. Take it all the way to the last exit which is highway 50 (also know as Colonial Drive). After you get off on highway 50 continue east for quite a ways. You will pass through several small towns including Bithlo and Christmas. After you pass Christmas you are getting closer. You will know you are almost there when the pine forests that line the road give way to a large marsh which is the St. John's River flood plains. You will cross the St. John's River (very small at this point) where you will see an attraction called Midway Airboat Rides. The park is on the south side of highway 50 about 2 and 1/2 miles ahead. Look carefully, the entrance is VERY easy to miss. If you get to an auto salvage yard, you have gone too far.
DIRECTIONS FROM INTERSTATE 95: Here are the directions coming from Interstate 95 (which runs down the east coast of Florida). Get off on the highway 50 exit for Titusville Florida. Titusville has several exits so make sure you get off on highway 50. Head west on highway 50 about 2 and 1/2 miles. The park entrance is on the south side of the road (your left side). Again, it is very easy to miss particularly coming from this direction.&
INSIDE THE PARK: Once you find the entrance to the park, leave your vehicle next to the sign that describes the park (and has a map on the back side). Begin walking south on the dirt road towards the steel gates you see. You can see the gates easily from the sign, do not take the other road (that heads west). Go past the gates and continue walking about a half mile or so. Just at about the point you can no longer see the entrance gates behind you, you will come upon a steel cattle gate across a dirt road to your left. Continue straight ahead (i.e. don't go left through the cattle gate) about 100 average paces and you will see an Oak tree with several small palm trees around it's base on your RIGHT side. The box is wedged between two small palms at their base. You will need to walk off the path around to the back side to reach the box. Please put it back exactly as you found it so that it is not easily visible from the main path. Have fun!
-Eric Mings