Missing sign gone for repairs

ST. PETERSBURG -- The mysterious disappearance of a sign marking the Tierra Verde Burial Mounds near the entrance to Fort De Soto Park since 1962 has been solved.

The sign was taken to the tiny Sumter County town of Webster for restoration last November, along with a marker on Pass-a-Grille Way for Rancho de Juaquin, a Spanish fishing village that flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries.

A group of preservation advocates started looking for the sign last week. Some suggested the Hidden Lagoon condo developers moved the marker during construction. Condo owner Tom Rogers said he suspected a tourist nabbed it for a souvenir. But nobody from the state or county who was initially called knew where the sign was or who would know.

Barbara Smith, state historian for The Questers preservation group, contacted the state last year to fix a crack in the new Pass-a-Grille marker her Questers Chapter had purchased. She remembered that Vale Fillmon, who was repairing the sign, told her he was also taking the Tierra Verde marker. "The state should know where their signs go," she said. "There needs to be some tracking for that."

Fillmon, 39, said he leaves a laminated tag with his phone number on the posts of the signs he takes to repair. He said someone who called him to complain about construction near the marker might have removed the tag, which would explain why others did not know what happened to it.

Fillmon reinstalled the Pass-a-Grille sign in January, but said he hasn't been able to work on the Tierra Verde marker since recuperating from a recent car accident. If the state approves, besides restoring the post, Fillmon will correct an error in the sign saying the burial grounds belonged to Timucua instead of Tocobaga Indians.

As the unofficial repairman for the more than 400 state markers in Florida, Fillmon has already restored about six of the 85-pound aluminum markers. "Every time I'm in a town, I'll survey all the ones that are there," he said.

Although the state communicates with Fillmon about which markers undergo restoration, Catherine Clark at the Bureau of Historic Preservation in Tallahassee said there are no specific guidelines for reporting and tracking sign restoration.

"We'll try to keep a plan. It's a little difficult when we're not there," Clark said. "It takes an individual to actually see it."

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