Rock the Boat

If you boated in Palm Beach County in the 1960s, chances are you headed to Singer Island to marvel at the Amaryllis shipwreck. After running aground, the Amaryllis served as a popular attraction from 1965 to 1968, when it sank and became an artificial reef. Images from this wreck and more will be on display beginning September 5 at the Historical Society of Palm Beach County’s Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum as part of the new exhibit “Shipwreck!” This display highlights regional shipwrecks dating back to the Spanish Colonial era and continuing through the 1960s. The exhibit looks not only at the wreckages but also at concurrent developmental history and the changing perception of treasure, explains Nicholas Golubov, HSPBC’s research director. “In 1660, those treasures were gold and silver,” he says. “During the pioneer period, early settlers salvaged the wrecks for building materials, stripping the ships for lumber, rope, and canvas. In the twentieth century, the shipwrecks themselves became the treasure.” (561-832-4164)

James Judge, 1904

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