What are those posts in the water?

[bluemtnrunner]

As you cross the bridges heading south on 331, if you look to your left there are a bunch of posts out in the bay. What are they?
One person told me they are an oyster farm, another told me that traders used to tie up out there.
What are they?

[wrobert]

As you cross the bridges heading south on 331, if you look to your left there are a bunch of posts out in the bay. What are they?
One person told me they are an oyster farm, another told me that traders used to tie up out there.
What are they?


Sawmill pilings.

[Sandcastle]

I was wondering the same thing. I was told that they are arranged in the form of a ship and were used for bombing practice during WWI.

[bluemtnrunner]

Sawmill pilings.

Were they used to tether the floating logs or the barges? Aren't they really close together?

Don't you just love local history?;-)

[wrobert]

Were they used to tether the floating logs or the barges? Aren't they really close together?

Don't you just love local history?;-)

Not sure. Just repeating what I had always been told. I had also been told that they were arranged to give off a certain radar signature back in the cold war days to fool the Soviets. I have heard a local did do some time for taking a bunch of aluminum caps off of some of the pilings. Maybe more than one thing.

The logs were supposedly floated down the river, cut up, then barged out.

[singinchicken]

Check with Eglins Public Relations office. The were used years ago for range practice. I have heard two stories...
1) They were illuminated and set up to look like Tokyo at night. Doolittles raiders used them to practice with
2) They were plain old bombing run targets

[Sand Angel]

Not sure what they are... I'll take the boat over and check them out as soon as I finish wrapping it in tin foil.:biggrin:

[aleonard]

Not sure. Just repeating what I had always been told. I had also been told that they were arranged to give off a certain radar signature back in the cold war days to fool the Soviets. I have heard a local did do some time for taking a bunch of aluminum caps off of some of the pilings. Maybe more than one thing.

The logs were supposedly floated down the river, cut up, then barged out.

U rang......................
http://boingboing.net/images/foilfez.jpg

But I have actually heard the info about it being a military thing.

[rdelong43065]

Three years I have been here and I haven't been able to get an answer as to what they are. I'm just going to make something up. :D

[Dave Rauschkolb]

They were used by Eglin for pilot training.

[SHELLY]

As you cross the bridges heading south on 331, if you look to your left there are a bunch of posts out in the bay. What are they?
One person told me they are an oyster farm, another told me that traders used to tie up out there.
What are they?

They're for the new TDC Blue Signs.


.

[Mango]

They're for the new TDC Blue Signs.


.
:funn:

[cp]

Bet SN knows what they are!

[ShallowsNole]

Bet SN knows what they are!

Been there longer than I can remember, so it never occurred to me to ask. :blush: I know someone I can ask about the military thing, if he lives long enough for me to see him again (that sounds bad, but with the age of folks who were friends with my parents...:blink:). I do think the original purpose was to guide logs for the sawmills. If you go to the boat access on Tucker Bayou at the end of 395, or to Eden, the posts you see in the water there were definitely for the sawmills.

I can tell you that there are far, far fewer military manuevers over the east end of the bay than there were when I was growing up. Before I was born, there was an incident with flare bombs accidentally being dropped in our yard instead of in the bay...

[ASH]

I was off the dock out at Pt Washington one day when one of the locals living there stopped by the dock and chatted with me for awhile. He's got that white Jeep and a huge garden North of his place on the main road going into the Pt. Apparently he still owns a bit of land over there.
He told me there was a sawmill just across the river from the dock and it was built on the pilings.
I never thought to ask about the pilings out in the main body of water. I always thought that would be a good place to fish due to all the structure over there.
But if they were ever using that for bombing runs...:leaving:

[ShallowsNole]

Yup. I think I know who you are talking about, and he would be a good source of info.

I'm also going to ask my uncles. They seem to know everything about the sawmills. The military part is what I need to find my dad's friend for. The man's son runs a business in Seaside so I might try him first. :wave:

[kurt]

I was off the dock out at Pt Washington one day when one of the locals living there stopped by the dock and chatted with me for awhile. He's got that white Jeep and a huge garden North of his place on the main road going into the Pt. Apparently he still owns a bit of land over there.
He told me there was a sawmill just across the river from the dock and it was built on the pilings.


Yes he would know - that's Tucker bayou, not the river. The pilings in the bayou were for docks used to load lumber onto ships. A lot of the raw logs were floated in so it would make sense for them to process them on the docks as well.

As for the pilings out in the bay I have heard several stories:
- bombing target
- directional indicator for planes at Eglin (possibly lit at night)
- held some sort of radar array for Eglin
- oyster farm

[ASH]

I've been looking for information online, but it is spotty at best. This guy I spoke with that you know. Is he one of the owners of the Red Bar by chance?

[kurt]

I've been looking for information online, but it is spotty at best. This guy I spoke with that you know. Is he one of the owners of the Red Bar by chance?

Nope

[Snerd]

I've heard many stories similar to the ones posted, even the one about someone taking the caps off of them and being arrested (but that they were copper, not aluminum).

We've never gotten very close to them, but friends said they were going to try fishing there and there is no sign of any life around them, not even oysters growing on them. :shock: I bet they used some heavy duty chemicals to treat the wood back then.

[NoHall]

Every time I see the title of this thread, I think that someone is trying to SoWal (post) in the water. It's freaking me out. I really need my nap.

[Truffle Anne]

Every time I see the title of this thread, I think that someone is trying to SoWal (post) in the water. It's freaking me out. I really need my nap.
Hey, NoHall, don't blllrrruurrrble blbbbblllrrruuurrrb (splash). Blurrrrrpppple bllluuup bllurrble! :D

[sowalgayboi]

I've heard many stories similar to the ones posted, even the one about someone taking the caps off of them and being arrested (but that they were copper, not aluminum).

We've never gotten very close to them, but friends said they were going to try fishing there and there is no sign of any life around them, not even oysters growing on them. :shock: I bet they used some heavy duty chemicals to treat the wood back then.

According to this report (http://www.fws.gov/panamacity/programs/archived%20reports/choctaw.pdf) I wouldn't worry about those having anything in them, the sampled area right near there is actually one of the cleanest spots in the bay. As of 2002 that is.

[rheffron]

According to this report (http://www.fws.gov/panamacity/programs/archived%20reports/choctaw.pdf) I wouldn't worry about those having anything in them, the sampled area right near there is actually one of the cleanest spots in the bay. As of 2002 that is.

Thank God someone has time to look these things up!

[organicmama]

I can tell you that there are far, far fewer military manuevers over the east end of the bay than there were when I was growing up. Before I was born, there was an incident with flare bombs accidentally being dropped in our yard instead of in the bay...

Scary. :shock: The sounds during the day freak me out enough...

[30ABandMan]

I would believe they were part of military training. My mom was raised at White Point military housing during the 50's. The military housing was actually where the camping and rv area is at the north end of the midbay bridge. She used to tell me stories of large floating A frame targets and other docks that were used for bombing practice. Seems logical that they may have a large dock or fixed structure at the east end of the bay. The bombs were inert so there wouldn't have been any real distruction. Well, except for that farm they blew up near Defuniak...

[sowalgayboi]

Inert or not, let one land on you or your house and it's a big deal. :eek:

[jodiFL]

I can tell you that there are far, far fewer military manuevers over the east end of the bay than there were when I was growing up. Before I was born, there was an incident with flare bombs accidentally being dropped in our yard instead of in the bay...

Oh I can vouch for the past 20 years or so. They used to fly little training jets at treetop level when I first moved out here. So low that the pilots would actually wave at us when they went over. Then there was that blue/orange drone thing I saw one day that seemed to be just a little too low to be able to make it out to the gulf. But the kicker was when the Stealth bomber flew over my house so low that I could count rivets. I didnt hear anything ...just saw an odd triangular shadow come over the yard and when I looked up it was right over my head. But once it had passed ...then I heard it.

[ShallowsNole]

Oh I can vouch for the past 20 years or so. They used to fly little training jets at treetop level when I first moved out here. So low that the pilots would actually wave at us when they went over. Then there was that blue/orange drone thing I saw one day that seemed to be just a little too low to be able to make it out to the gulf. But the kicker was when the Stealth bomber flew over my house so low that I could count rivets. I didnt hear anything ...just saw an odd triangular shadow come over the yard and when I looked up it was right over my head. But once it had passed ...then I heard it.

You are correct - I didn't see it, but after it had been declassified and unveiled, my NSA-involved brother verified that the Stealth was developed and tested at Eglin. He still just smiles when he hears stories about UFOs along the Emerald Coast. :cool:

[jensieblue]

aomeone may have already posted this info., so apolgize if I am repeating soemone. I have been coming to Grayton for many years. The pilings you see in the bay are the remains of a cross bay railroad that was used to move timber harvested by the family that built their home at what is now Eden state park. Evedently that whole portion of the panhandle was lush with cedars and fortunes were made felling the trees and shipping them north for pensils. I love the are and the history. It is amazing that the pilings remain but I know that water can act as a preservative . I have several books on the area and am a history obcessive...Any more .....

[jensieblue]

I really should learn to proof my posts before I post. apologize for typos

[kurt]

aomeone may have already posted this info., so apolgize if I am repeating soemone. I have been coming to Grayton for many years. The pilings you see in the bay are the remains of a cross bay railroad that was used to move timber harvested by the family that built their home at what is now Eden state park. Evedently that whole portion of the panhandle was lush with cedars and fortunes were made felling the trees and shipping them north for pensils. I love the are and the history. It is amazing that the pilings remain but I know that water can act as a preservative . I have several books on the area and am a history obcessive...Any more .....

Which book did you see that in? I have always read that all timber was moved by boat. I believe you may be confusing with pilings in Tucker Bayou from the old docks where they processed and shipped in and out.

[jensieblue]

I'll check my stash of books today. I recall a history of Geneva Alabama that referenced this but I know that that touring the House at Eden, references were made to the timber railway over the bay. I will look further and get back with you.

[jensieblue]

Okay, on a quick scan I have found a reference to thesepiling remnants in a book titled THE WAY WE WERE; Recollections of South Walton PioneersThat reference describes a thriving lumber business located in Point Washington. "Finished lumber, awaiting shipment by barge to Pensacola, was stacked on wharves in the bayou. The remnants of some of the piling for the wharves is still visible today". Pg 48 I might have hallucinated the notion of the over bay train trestle but I don't think so . I'll look on. It will take me a while I have two ill family members and will be tending to them today

[singinchicken]

Okay, on a quick scan I have found a reference to thesepiling remnants in a book titled THE WAY WE WERE; Recollections of South Walton PioneersThat reference describes a thriving lumber business located in Point Washington. "Finished lumber, awaiting shipment by barge to Pensacola, was stacked on wharves in the bayou. The remnants of some of the piling for the wharves is still visible today". Pg 48 I might have hallucinated the notion of the over bay train trestle but I don't think so . I'll look on. It will take me a while I have two ill family members and will be tending to them today

Yup...you can still see the posts they refering to, but they are in the bayou behind Eden. Very few still stand...

[bluemtnrunner]

Just like the number of licks it takes to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop....The world may never know!

[seagrovegirl]

The posts in Tucker Bayou were for the lumber industry wharf's. The posts in the bay that you can see from the 331 bridge are not related.

[singinchicken]

Just like the number of licks it takes to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop....The world may never know!

I think the wise old owl in th commercial determined it was three licks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ0epRjfGLw

[ShallowsNole]

There were train tracks near Point Washington, but to the best of my knowledge there was never anything that spanned the bay until the 331 causeway ("bay fill" as it was formerly known) and the original drawbridge were built in the early forties.

As far as the train tracks, one would likely need to ask Van Ness or Albert Butler about that. I have a vague memory of someone mentioning a train that ran through the Bunker area over to Bay County (we were connected to Bunker until the Intracoastal was dug in the late 1930s). I also remember hearing something about someone getting the old cross-ties.

[ASH]

Which book did you see that in? I have always read that all timber was moved by boat. I believe you may be confusing with pilings in Tucker Bayou from the old docks where they processed and shipped in and out.

I am reading the book, "Of Days Gone By" A book of reflections of South Walton County. I picked it up at the estate sale at Point Washington.
There is a story about Geneva Mill stating that it was built at Mill Point where Lafayette and Four Mile Creek run together, just east of the shipyard that is still there. There is a photo showing tracks that it states ran logs from out around Black Creek. Lumber was processed at Geneva Mill and the story states that the railroad ran from Freeport through the sand hills almost to Red Bay. Logs went one way and then processed lumber went the other. The Geneva Mill closed in 1931. The story notes that no bridge spanned the bay until 1940. The Clyde B. Wells (331 Bridge was built in 1946)
There was another mill called Strickland located at the head of Tucker Bayou that shipped lumber to Pensacola where they were loaded on trains.
Apparently there were as many as seven large mills running at once back then.

[AAbsolute]

I'm attaching a link to an environmental study. Apparently there are UXO (unexploded ordinance) in the area you mentioned in Choctawhatchee Bay. In the attached study on page 7 that area with the poles in the Bay is called area D55. Several military references say that indeed the area was used for a military practice range during World War II.

http://www.eglin.af.mil/shared/media/document/afd-081016-059.pdf

[AAbsolute]

There's more about the military testing in that area in the attached report. Page 1 is rather imposing. It kinda makes me want to vote for McCain.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/budget/fy2004/army/rvol1.pdf

[ASH]

I saw the area shown on the map, but nothing about the UXO. Too many pages to read the whole thing. I scanned it fairly good though, or so I thought.
I just wish someone would pull together an informational piece for anyone interested. If there are UXO, I would hope that area is labeled so folks don't go in there with boats and drop an anchor in the wrong spot. :shock:

Thanks for the info

[florida girl]

Those posts were put up in the 50's, and used to have satellite dishes on them. It was a military operation. It is rather dangerous to get close to them as some of the posts have broken off just below the waters surface.

[AAbsolute]

I saw the area shown on the map, but nothing about the UXO. Too many pages to read the whole thing. I scanned it fairly good though, or so I thought.
I just wish someone would pull together an informational piece for anyone interested. If there are UXO, I would hope that area is labeled so folks don't go in there with boats and drop an anchor in the wrong spot. :shock:

Thanks for the info

These military documents are overly cumbersome. I'll try and attach some relevant pages.

[beachmouse]

There's a restaurant at the BW marina that decorated its tables by putting nautical navigational charts down and then clear laminate over them. I can remember a couple different 'here be the dragons and UXB' parts of Choctaw Bay labeled on the relevant chart when we ate at that table.

[AAbsolute]

I added some details of Unexploded Ordinance in that area in my last post. There's quite a bit of military data on it, but I had such a hard time copying the text from the reports.

[AAbsolute]

Maybe they'll find some of the UXO's when they add lanes to the bridge. That area D-55 looks like it is real close to the East side of the 331 bridge and runs almost straight towards it. One would assume overshots of that target would put ordinance at or near the North foundation.