Just 100 yards offshore from the House of Refuge at Gilbert’s Bar is the wreck of the Georges Valentine.  This three-masted Italian brigantine sank during a turbulent storm on October 16, 1904, while carrying a load of mahogany from Pensacola, Florida to Buenos Aires.  On a clear calm day, the wreckage can still be seen today, about 300 feet from the southeastern corner of the property.

Captain William Rea, keeper of the House of Refuge in 1904, helped to rescue seven of the ship’s twelve-man crew.  Captain Rea and his wife, assisted by local residents, cared for the injured men for several weeks until they could travel homeward.  If not for the ship wrecking near the House of Refuge, and the Keeper’s hard work, all of the Georges Valentine’s crew would have perished.  Gilbert’s Bar House of Refuge stands today as a testament to the dramatic events on that lonely stretch of beach over 100 years ago.

The Georges Valentine was declared a Florida State Underwater Archaeological Preserve in 2005, and in 2006 it was named to the National Register of Historic Places.  This shipwreck is a very popular diving and snorkeling spot, as she rests in shallow water. 

In addition to viewing pieces of the wreckage such as the hull and masts, divers can see the vast variety of marine life that now makes its home around the ship.  Marine life observed includes snook, sheepshead, margate, angel fish, shiners shark, moray eels, stingrays, lobster, stone crab, hermit crab, puffer fish, trigger fish, parrot fish, wrasse snapper and various species of soft corals.