Drake Monument

posted by admin on 8th, 2009

Story by Michael Harris
Photos by Anthony Rao

Last month, theLAKEmagazine.net asked if anyone knew of the Drake family mystery. It was suggested to one of our colleagues that a monument was dropped at the bottom of Lake Harris.

Well, according to some fact-finding and digging by Lake County resident Karen Walling, the mystery has been uncovered. And really, not so-much a mystery as it is an accident.

Currently, the Drake family has a plot in the Yalaha Cemetery with a 20-foot monument, but originally a 15-foot stone was to be brought to the cemetery. The monument was being brought on barge from Jacksonville, and while crossing Lake Harris, the barge ran into a storm and rough water and fell off the boat.

It is believed to have happened close to the cemetery near Drake Point. Apparently, according to a Daily Commercial story, that pilots flying over the site have seen the monument when sand has shifted and temporarily revealed it.