A nearly century-old steamer trunk mysteriously washed ashore on a Florida beach, the National Park Service said, more than a week after Hurricane Nicole wreaked havoc on the state’s shoreline.
In a Facebook post, Fort Matanzas National Monument said park staff were alerted to a “suspicious package” found on the beach and went to investigate. While “nothing of interest” was found inside the trunk, the park called it a “unique piece of history.”
“What we found today is a Vintage 1930s Steamer Trunk,” the park said. “It is a brand called ‘NEVERBREAK Trunks.’ Manufactured By: L. Goldsmith & Son of Newark New Jersey.”
The trunk was initially discovered last week by Mike OMeally, who posted images of the item on Instagram. One photo appeared to show a sandbag tethered to the chest.
“This is about to get weird no matter how it plays out,” he wrote on Instagram.
The National Park Service did not say whether the trunk could be debris from the hurricane that pounded the state earlier this month. Fort Matanzas is located more than 50 miles from a beachfront community that lost several homes in the storm.
The park “preserves the fortified coquina watchtower, completed in 1742, which defended the southern approach to the Spanish military settlement of St. Augustine,” the National Park Service says.