Remembering Trilobites

Submitted by Evelyn C. McDonald
October 7, 2015 7:05 p.m.

Bet you never thought you’d see an article with that title. A bit of explanation is clearly needed. When I started college, there was a requirement to take a two semester science course with a lab section. High school biology left me somewhat nauseous. Chemistry was a bit frightening and I never even considered physics. No, I took geology. Among the many accomplishments from that course were the ability to remember Moh’s Scale of Hardness, the three kinds of rocks (igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic by the way), and the history of trilobites. The latter were three lobed sea creatures that look to have been the ancestors of rock shrimp.

I assumed I’d left geology behind in the years since I graduated. Imagine my surprise walking down Centre Street a few years ago when I saw a trilobite fossil in the window of a shop. Not only trilobites but ammonites and other fossils as well. I went back to the store, Hunt’s Art and Artifacts Gallery (aka Rock and Fossil Shop) this week to see what was new.

The store’s been there since 1994, remarkably long-lived for a not exactly touristy Centre Street establishment. It is a narrow store filled with all sorts of items that you don’t often find in town, and in one place. There are collections of old coins, jewelry, oriental rugs, beads, fossils, mineral specimens, and carved wood bowls and boxes. The mineral specimens made into jewelry are unique and lovely.

There were several of us browsing the store and asking questions of the woman behind the counter whom I assumed was the owner. I commented on the trilobites and she said the fossils were being slowly phased out. The younger generation hasn’t as much interest in collecting, especially fossils. Her son knew about fossils, she said, but also knew that not everyone had grown up with a dinosaur bone under the dining room table.
Times change. But I thank Hunt’s for reconnecting me with a bit of my past and also for the pair of sterling silver and amethyst earrings that I bought for my daughter. Hunt’s is a good place to browse and see some unusual and interesting items. It’s not too late to get a trilobite fossil for your home décor. Think what a conversation starter it would be.

Hunt’s is located at 316C Centre Street. They are building a new website at www.huntsaaa.com

Evelyn McDonald moved to Fernandina Beach from the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. in 2006. She is a chair of Arts & Culture Nassau, a city commission charged with support of the arts in Nassau County. She serves on FSCJ’s Curriculum Committee for the Center for Lifelong Learning. She is also the chair of the Dean’s Council for the Carpenter Library at the UNF. Ms. McDonald has MS in Technology Management from the University of Maryland’s University College and a BA in Spanish from the University of Michigan.