In summertime, our nights were filled with stars. The rest of the year we had all the bright lights of a major city without humongous buildings and hordes of people. In the 1960s, flower farms galore gave sparsely populated Martin County its claim to being the Chrysanthemum Capital of the World.

As Martin County celebrates its centennial, it’s the perfect opportunity to step back in time and learn about the interesting people and places that have shaped its history.

Albert Paul “Bert” Krueger had returned home to Stuart as a World War I flying ace. His parents were early pioneers of Martin County, where Bert and his siblings had grown up on the family’s pineapple farm.

When Dr. John T. Henderson, a successful physician from Cleveland, Ohio, came to this region during the real estate boom, it was to oversee his property interests — not continue practicing medicine.

Martin County was a product of the great Florida real estate boom of the 1920s. Some of the buildings of the era have not only survived but have been lovingly restored.

Martin County’s lucky stars lined up when illness brought Edwin Menninger to the St. Lucie River Region, changing its journalistic future forever.

The Ashley Gang was Florida’s most notorious crime family of the 20th century, using a tiny community now in Martin County as its base of operations.