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UnexplainedLast verified

The Ghost Pier Under Flagler Beach

An open mystery from Flagler Beach, Florida, December 2022. City of Flagler Beach is the investigating agency.

When
Where
Flagler Beach, FloridaFlagler County
Investigating
City of Flagler Beach

The case

Our summary of the public record. The small numbers show where each fact comes from.

Hurricane Nicole stripped a lot of sand off Flagler Beach in November 2022, and on the north end of town at 22nd Street it uncovered something nobody walking the beach had seen in decades: a short row of six weathered wooden pilings standing up out of the sand.

City officials and Flagler Beach Ocean Rescue said the pilings are believed to be what's left of an early private pier built nearly a century ago by a businessman named George Bruner, a property owner on the north end. By their account it ran roughly 600 feet out and Bruner charged $10 a year for a membership to walk it. A hurricane in the 1940s is said to have destroyed it. The city said it had no plans to cut down or remove the posts, and warned beachgoers that storms were uncovering hazards buried for decades.

The open part is the paper trail. Flagler County Historical Society's account of early Ocean City (today's Flagler Beach) says the first ocean fishing pier was added to the Ocean City Beach Casino and lost in a mid-1920s hurricane, with the municipal pier built in 1928 a block south of it. It doesn't mention Bruner. So exactly when the 22nd Street pier went up, how it fit alongside the town's other early piers, and which storm finally took it are questions the sand hasn't answered yet. Every Flagler kid knows the pier as the heart of town, and it turns out there's an older one hiding up the beach.

Timeline

  1. Ocean City Beach Casino built; an ocean fishing pier is later added to it (Flagler County Historical Society).2

  2. The municipal fishing pier is completed, one block south of the first casino pier, per the historical society.23

  3. A hurricane tears off roughly half of the municipal pier.3

  4. Hurricane Nicole erodes the beach and exposes six wooden pilings at 22nd Street.1

  5. City officials and Ocean Rescue identify the pilings as believed remnants of George Bruner's early pier, say they won't be removed, and urge caution around newly exposed hazards.1

Key facts

Each one checked against a source.

  • About six wooden pilings were exposed at 22nd Street in Flagler Beach after Hurricane Nicole.1
  • City officials said they are believed to be from an early pier built nearly 100 years ago by George Bruner, a private property owner on the north end.1
  • The pier was reportedly about 600 feet long, and Bruner charged a $10 yearly membership to walk on it.1
  • A 1940s hurricane is said to have destroyed it.1
  • The city said there were no plans to cut down or remove the pilings.1
  • Flagler County Historical Society describes an earlier casino pier, lost in a mid-1920s hurricane, and dates the municipal pier to 1928.2

Open questions

  1. When exactly was the 22nd Street pier built, and was it really the town's first pier, given the historical society's account of an earlier casino pier?
  2. Which 1940s hurricane destroyed it?
  3. How far does the buried line of pilings run, and how much of the 600-foot structure is still under the sand?
  4. Do any photographs or records of Bruner's pier survive?

Photos and video

Official releases, public-domain and openly licensed files, credited. Tap a photo to see it larger.

The Flagler Beach pier, the town's long-standing landmark, about two miles south of the 22nd Street pilings.
The Flagler Beach pier, the town's long-standing landmark, about two miles south of the 22nd Street pilings.Photo: Victor Rugg / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (public domain dedication) · Public domain
The beach at Flagler Beach, A1A Scenic and Historic Coastal Byway (2004).
The beach at Flagler Beach, A1A Scenic and Historic Coastal Byway (2004).Unknown author, National Archives (NARA 7716699) via Wikimedia Commons, public domain · Public domain

Outside coverage and files

Linked, not copied. These open on the publisher's site.

Sources

Everything in this file comes from these. News coverage is linked, never copied.

Databases

  1. 2Ocean City - Flagler BeachFlagler County Historical Society, Mar 9, 2020

News coverage

  1. 1More mystery objects found on Florida beaches: Here is what they areFOX 35 Orlando, Dec 9, 2022
  2. 3Flagler Beach Pier: Full HistoryAskFlagler, May 6, 2026

Related files

Same county, same state or the same kind of case.

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