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Florida
Hurricane Timeline: 1500 to 1899
1559 - Hurricane wrecks Spanish
expedition. A Spanish fleet of 74 ships
sent to recapture Florida sailed into a
hurricane. Most of the fleet was sunk, but
one ship survived and founded a colony near
Pensacola.
1565 - Storm destroys French fleet.
The French lose their bid to control the
Atlantic coast of North America when a storm
smashes their fleet, allowing the Spanish to
capture Fort Carolina, near present-day
Jacksonville.
September 5, 1622 -
Spanish treasure fleet lost in the Dry
Tortugas.
The Nuestra Senora de Atocha and seven other
Spanish treasure ships are sunk in the Dry
Totugas. 550 sailors and a cargo worth more
than two million pesos was lost. Mel
Fisher's discovery of the Atocha in 1985
netted him millions in treasure loot.
July 30, 1715 - The Treasure Coast gets
its name. Over 1000 sailors perish and
11 Spanish treasure ships carrying over 10
million silver and gold coins are lost along
the east coast of Florida. Treasure hunters
Kip Wagner and Kip Kelso make a fortune
recovering gold and silver off the shores of
Indian River county.
July 15, 1733 - Storm destroys Spanish
treasure fleet. A Spanish fleet of four
armed galleons, eighteen merchant ships, and
various smaller ships carrying New World
treasures encountered a hurricane in the
Florida Keys. Only one ship escaped safely
back to Havana, while the others were
scattered and wrecked along the upper Keys.
1781 - 2,000 lost as Spanish fleet is
destroyed in the Gulf. A Spanish fleet
en-route from Havana to Pensacola
encountered a hurricane off the west coast
of Florida. At least four ships were
destroyed costing the lives of 2,000
sailors.
1846 - Major hurricane strikes Key West.
A
severe hurricane struck the Florida Keys
destroying or damaging all but eight of the
600 houses in Key West. The Sand Key and Key
West harbor lighthouses were destroyed.
Water rose to about 8-feet in Key West.
October, 1870 - "Twin Hurricanes" pound
Key West. Two hurricanes only nine days
apart make landfall in Key West. Damage is
minimal and there is no reported loss of
life.
October, 1873 - Punta Rassa, Florida
destroyed. The seaside village of Punta
Rassa, 13 miles southwest of Ft. Meyers, was
leveled by a hurricane that crossed the
state and exited via east-central Florida.
1886 - Seven
hurricanes pummel the Gulf Coast including
three in Florida.
Three hurricanes make landfall along a
150 mile stretch of the Florida Gulf Coast
from Apalachicola to Cedar Key. Meanwhile
four hurricanes blast Texas in what stands
as the harshest hurricane season on record.
1896 - The Florida Gulf Coast is struck
three times.
Nearly 200 people die as hurricanes
strike Pensacola and Cedar Key and a
tropical storm makes landfall at Punta
Gorda.
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