N E W E X H I B I T . . .
Features Shipwreck Artifacts!
Billy Kenon, of Marine Salvage & Services, Inc. of Port Isabel, has loaned the Treasures of the Gulf Museum a variety of artifacts from three shipwreck locations; South Padre Island, Tx., Juniper, Fl., and Cape Canavarel, Fl. This exhibit replaces the Atocha Treasures that had been on display since May 2000. Artifacts in the new exhibit include coins, blocks, spikes, rods, a rare deck prism, metal patch work and tacks, and rudder parts which represent a span of 300 years.


The oldest artifacts date back as far as the 1554 Spanish shipwrecks from Padre Island. These artifacts compliment the existing permanent 1554 Spanish Ship Wreck Exhibit located in the Treasures of the Gulf Museum.

Mr. Kenon has been involved for many years with marine and shipwreck salvage. He had long walked the beaches of Padre Island, searching for treasure and in 1967, joined a group from Gary, Indiana, by the name Platoro, Inc. [a combination of “plata” (silver) and “oro” (gold)]. Together, they attempted the first known modern salvage of the Spanish wrecks. With the aid of a magnetometer, they found one of the ships.

Kenon then developed a prop wash deflector, using the propellor wash from the boat to blast the protective sediments away from the wreckage to expose the artifacts. Artifacts on loan from Billy Kenon and information on their discovery and recovery, will be on display at the Treasures of the Gulf Museum, adjacent to the Port Isabel Historical Museum, 317 E. Railroad Ave.

Padre Island Rich in Treasures

Padre Island, situated as it is in relation to the gulf currents and at the corner of the Gulf of Mexico, forms a natural trap for the flotsam all over the Gulf and Caribbean. The sailing route for ships homeward bound from the south or east would carry them onto the beach. The French explorer La Salle discovered in 1685 that the Karankawa Indians, who lived along the Texas Coast north of Corpus Christi, were well accustomed to pillaging wrecked vessels, suggesting that others also must have gone down. Between 1500 and 1820, it has been estimated that 17,000 Spanish ships, most of them bearing silver and gold, sailed homeward from the Indies. Rough calculations are that 5% (850) were lost at sea and that 2% (340) were never salvaged by the Spaniards. Although many ships were lost in deep water, a larger number went down in shallow water, ready to be discovered by modern day explorers and marine archaeologists.

Pictured at top: Assorted artifacts currently on display, including spikes, rods, patches and tacks, and pictured above, a rare deck prism. Pictured to the right: keel parts from vessel wreckage recovered off Florida.
.............Museums of Port Isabel .....................................................................pages 6 - 7