'Cap' Knight The year was 1871, the place, Cape Canaveral, Florida, when Eugene Theodore 'Cap' Knight first saw the light of day. 'Cap' came from a seafaring family, his Grandfather; Capt. Mills Olcott Burnham came to Florida and in 1853 became the lighthouse keeper at Canaveral Fl. Cap's father, Capt. J.A. Knight also served as the light keeper at Canaveral until his death in 1892. Cap Knight ran away from home at the age of 13 and went to sea, worked up to become eventually a ships master with Morgan Lines, retiring after three decades of seafaring. Cap Knight married Bertha Armour, daughter of the lighthouse keeper in Jupiter, After their marriage failed, Cap Knight married Lola Saunders from Cross Creek, the hometown of Marjorie Kinning Rawlings who wrote' the Yearling.' She became one of the teachers hired to teach children of lighthouse keepers and other children in the Hillsborough inlet area. Billy Knight's father (Billy added his recollections to this story) Burnham Knight, was a commercial fisherman, his father and Billy's Grandfather, Tom Knight, brother of 'Cap' was the Hillsboro lighthouse keeper and Billy says ' Cap' (who was his great uncle) whom he called 'Uncle Theade' was always called 'Theade' by his family was his own man. The Knight family followed the sea from generation to generation. (Billy Knight is retired as a boat Captain.) After purchasing a barge, 'Cap' opened his first bar on the barge in the Miami area (it was rumored to have been used in the building of the Florida East Coast Railway to Key West). Later he moved the barge to the South side of the Hillsboro Inlet on a small peninsula on Wahoo Bay. This spot proved to be a bad location from the standpoint of hurricanes and he then moved it across the East coast canal on a small piece of land on the West side of the canal. This spot came to be and is still called 'Caps Island.' The barge is an integral part of 'Caps place' today. With the coming of prohibition, Cap Knight found himself in the right place and time to get into the rum running business from the Bahama Islands. The closest one, Bimini, is just 50 or so miles off the coast of Florida and the Hillsboro Inlet. With his sailing background, crossing that short span of water with a load of illegal whiskey and having the Hillsboro Light to help get back, Cap did a brisk, profitable business supplying the local demand and all of his business dealings were conducted in cash. Cap would sink the burlap bags of whiskey in the surrounding water and when someone wanted a bottle, or a bag full, it is said Cap could row his boat out and on the darkest night could 'snag' one of the bags from the bottom, even pulling up the right bag that contained whatever type of whiskey the customer wanted. The year was 1929 when Cap opened his restaurant and bar that he called 'Club Unique.' His club was an instant success and was made more appealing by his method of getting customers there. Cap had a rowboat with an attendant who would row across the East coast canal whenever a customer flashed his lights and ferry them over to 'the Island'. This really made his restaurant 'Unique.' Billy, Allred Sistrunk, Fred Stone and Dwight Miller were some of the boys that rowed customers across. 'Cap's place' soon became synonymous with good food, good booze, gambling and atmosphere, proving that slot machines, blackjack tables, roulette wheels and dice games were available even though illegal. Rumor had it that 'the mob' had a hand in the gambling aspect of the club and this made it even more 'Unique.' Notables were attracted to Cap's place, probable the most famous and at the time most secret was in January, 1942 during World War II when the President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt along with Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Secretary of state Edward J. Stettinius who had a home on Hillsboro Beach had breakfast in the 'Yellow Room' at 'Caps' place, (Cap's club never served breakfast to the public, this was a special occasion) and were waited on and served 'turtle egg pancakes' by none other than 'Cap' in his bib overalls and denim shirt that he wore on all occasions. It is said the biggest worry was how to get the president, in his wheelchair, safely across the canal in a small rowboat. Obviously, this was handled successfully by an Army officer assigned to that task. Billy says that 'Cap', knowing of the drinking habits of Churchill, brought him a glass of a 'special' blend of whiskey and told Churchill it wasn't for drinking, just for sipping, whereupon Churchill turned the glass up and downed the entire contents in one gulp-so much for the sipping. Over the years, the celebrity guest list included the names of many famous people who dined at 'Cap's place' eating 'turtle egg pancakes' one of the many specialties of Cap's. Another favorite was 'Heart of Palm salad' taken from the heart of the cabbage or Sabal palm tree that is abundant in the lake Okeechobee area. The Sabal Palm is the state tree of Florida and to cut the heart out kills the tree and so it is illegal to do so. At one time Cap says the state sent men down to make arrests for cutting down the trees. They positioned men at the boat landing where all his supplies had to be ferried across and waited for the delivery of the palm hearts. A Seminole Indian drove up in a truck and he had a load of palm logs and could not be arrested because his tribe had sovereignty in the Everglades where the palms came from. He told the state men that he gave the palms hearts to Cap. Sylvester Love who went to work as a dishwasher for Cap Knight in the early forties has been a landmark at Cap's place for many years. Cap Knight not only had a successful restaurant and bar business, he also had a wholesale fish market in Pompano, run by Mrs. Rethea Mitchell, a fleet of commercial fishing boats and he operated a fish camp at Snake Bight on Snake Creek in Florida bay. Billy says he fished there three summers and one winter. (I spent a week fishing there for Cap Knight in 1946, just a short time before it was made a part of Everglades National Park and all commercial fish camps were banned. BG) During the 1950's there were Senate investigations into gambling in Florida and it is rumored that the 'mob' figures that had been seen frequently at Cap's ceased to visit there and when Sheriff Walter Clark died in 1951, Cap quit the gambling business entirely. The era of open illegal gambling in South Florida came to a halt. Conservation officers raided caps place in 1962 and a large 'clutch' of illegal turtle eggs were found. Cap said he had been buying turtle eggs for many years for his 'pancakes'. He was fined and made to promise not use any more turtle eggs. (Billy says he is not at liberty to say where or from whom Cap Knight got his turtle eggs.) Cap Knight and his wife Lola were early pioneers from the hearty stock that came to South Florida and he became a legend and at the same time remained a personable, likable, businessman and ran a business that has withstood many obstacles and has become nationally known and acclaimed. Cap's Place is still open and is owned and operated by Tom Hasis oldest son of Albert Hasis who Cap Knight met in the early 20's and remained good friends throughout their lives. The quality of service and food at 'Cap's place' is the same now as it was when it first opened. Billy said Cap Knight told him at one time that 'I was born the boss and I will die the boss. 'Cap' Knight died in 1964 at the age of 94. His wife Lola died in 1989'. 'Cap' Knight is buried in the Pompano Beach Cemetery. (Billy Knight added his recollections to this story. Billy was born and raised in Pompano, living on the beach close to the Hillsboro Inlet. Billy graduated from Pompano High School in 1947. He is married to Peggy Carter Knight also a Pompano native. ) BG.