SAND CUT

NAME: Sand Cut
COUNTY: Palm Beach
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 4
CLIMATE: warm most of the year
BEST TIME TO VISIT: anytime 		COMMENTS: Sand Cut is a two acre site along the eastern shore of Lake Okeechobee near the Palm Beach/Martin County border. It's situated on US98 Conners Highway north of Canal Point on a tract of land between the railroad tracks and the lake. UPDATE: Revisited Sand Cut in October 2010.  Town is no longer occupied, all residents have been relocated or removed.  Most buildings and homes are gone or boarded up and moved to allow Government workers and equipment access to reinforce the dike along Lake Okeechobee.  One original house from the early days still remains, with the tall grass in front of it removed to clear a road and parking area for construction vehicles.  Sand Cut is now a true ghost town, having been effectively erased from the map.  Jim Pike
REMAINS: a few scattered houses, stacks of railroad ties

In the 1920's and 30's Sand Cut was an isolated community whose residents made their living hunting and net-fishing on Lake Okeechobee. Migrant worker camps sprung up in the nearby farmlands and the Atlantic Coastline Railway had a spur track at Sand Cut to ship out produce and goods from the area. The town had it's own school and prospered and grew until the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission banned commercial net-fishing on the lake, killing the main source of income for the small community. In the 1950's many residents were forced out due to canal dredging on their properties. Today Sand Cut has only 7 or 8 residents, with the Florida Water Management District in the process of acquiring much of the remaining land to reinforce the dike around Lake Okeechobee. Submitted by: Jim Pike

Currently on the Florida East Coast Railway tracks


Town sign on US98
Courtesy Jim Pike


Atlantic Coastline Railroad with former Sand Cut spur path
Courtesy Jim Pike


Sand Cut spur track path (rails now removed)
Courtesy Jim Pike


Railroad ties stacked up from former Sand Cut railroad spur track
Courtesy Jim Pike


Old house next to railway spur
Courtesy Jim Pike


Sand Cut
Courtesy Jim Pike


Caption Reads "Flooding of Sand Cut migratory labor camp north of Canal Point necessitated evacuation of the residents, these farm workers without home or job" 1947, courtesy of the Florida State Archives
Courtesy Jim Pike


October 2010. Former trailer residence now empty, boarded up, and moved out of the way for access to the edge of Lake Okeechobee Sand Cut
Courtesy Jim Pike


Last remaining original house from the early Sand Cut time period
Courtesy Jim Pike

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