1967: Art "Silver Bar" McKee Makes a Splash In Miami

This WTVJ-4 story finds treasure hunter Art "Silver Bar" McKee dragging hundreds of pounds of his trademark silver bars from his Treasure Fortress on Plantation Key to Miami. Known as the "Father of Modern Treasure Hunting," McKee's South Florida career began as a lifeguard at the city of Homestead's public pool. Other subaqueous occupations familiarized McKee with the sites of wrecked ships in the Keys; in time he conducted wreck tours in a glass-bottomed boat.
He also led other divers to wrecks and in time got into salvage work, earning his nickname "Silver Bar" when he pulled three massive silver bars, each weighing about seventy pounds, from the water in one day.
This story features footage of McKee loading treasure from his Plantation Key Fortress and unloading it for exhibition in Miami; McKee's artifacts were displayed at Sheehan Buick alongside new-for-1968 Skylarks, Rivieras, Electras and LeSabres.
In a brief interview McKee exhibits his scholarly side, commenting on the importance of historical research in helping him find and identify ancient wrecks.
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This video and audio is copyrighted/owned by the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives at Miami Dade College.
This clip is derived from news film in the WTVJ Collection. Accession number TVN1090-3764-03; airdate September 20, 1967.

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