Safe at home
For 61 years from 1948 to 2008, Vero Beach was a familiar name to baseball fans. Dodgertown was the classic major league spring training site. Then it was gone, and Vero survived.
Growing pains
Better bridges and roads, mosquito control and eventually, the widespread use of air-conditioning, even in public schools, made Vero Beach attractive to new residents during the postwar Baby Boom.
Wally Skiscim, second serviceman from the right, enjoyed dancing at the USO parties. He returned to Vero Beach after the war to marry Mary Anne Maher. COURTESY OF SKISCIM PHOTOS, ARCHIVE CENTER, IRC MAIN LIBRARY
Never the same
World War II brought permanent changes to the homefront, even to towns as small as Vero Beach in the early 1940s.
Century of progress
Like many latter-day retirees who visit towns up and down Florida’s east coast before deciding to settle in Vero Beach, a Vermonter named Henry T. Gifford checked out Titusville, Fort Pierce and the swamps now known as Miami before moving to Vero in 1887, when it was unnamed, unknown and mostly uninhabited.
Color-tinted photograph of Arthur Mayfield Hill and Catherine Richey Hill hangs on the living room wall of Linda Hill, widow of Hill’s grandson Arthur M. Hill III. It probably dates from the Hill family’s early days in Vero around 1920. LINDA HILL
Property pioneer
Of all the people remembered during the celebration of Vero Beach’s centennial this year, citrus developer and businessman Arthur Mayfield Hill may be one of the most underappreciated.
The Nuestra Señora del Carmen y San Antonio, originally HMS Hampton Court, is shown in this painting days after the hurricane of 1715. It grounded on the east coast of Florida and was the only one from the Spanish treasure fleet to beach relatively intact. JAMES FLOOD
When pirates scoured the Treasure Coast
One man. One crew. One ship can take on the entire British Empire without a hiccough or regret. However grandiose Bellamy’s assertion may sound today, it was not without sincerity.
Gilbert’s Bar House of Refuge on South Hutchinson Island once saved the stranded and is now a romantic getaway for couples. RICK CRARY
Beacon of romance
In Martin County, there is a historic, scenic, coastal setting that has been a beacon to lovers for more than a hundred years. Situated on a bluff of strikingly picturesque rocks at the southerly end of Hutchinson Island, the Gilbert’s Bar House of Refuge looks out over a vast expanse of aquamarine water that melts into the horizon. A soothing rhythm of white-foamed waves splashing is heard on the rocky coast, while a cool sea breeze calms the senses.
The Vero Beach Centennial Committee has attracted dozens of volunteers, including these attending a July 17 City Council meeting at which the council declared October 2018 through October 2019 a year of centennial celebration. First row, from left: Jim Wilson, John Michael Matthews, Lee Orre, Michelle Wagner, Todd Scher, Eric Toomsoo, Patrick Jordan; second row: Joan Edwards, Cathie Callery, Ruth Stanbridge, Pam Cooper, Lisa Doidge, Angie Scheppers, Laura Lewis, Stu Keiller, Brenda Corum; third row: Amy Brunjes, Bart Gaetjens, Marilyn Dussault, Laura Moss, Tammy Bursick, Tony Young, Alma Lee Loy, Jim O’Connor, Bob McCabe; fourth row: Paul Bartoszewick, Kim Brady, Kathy Bartoszewick, Barbara Hoffman, Kristina Pantelides, Jessica Schmidt, Alan Dritenbas, Catherine Caddell, Linda Hillman, Elaine Jones, Mary Silva, Peggy Lyon, Amanda Martin, Kelly Ward, Heather Stapleton, Casey Lunceford, Lance Lunceford, Ray Adams, Tyler Kennison, Marty Paris, Etta Schaller, Bev Paris and Rob Slezak. JACK FOLEY
Celebrating a century
It began as a casual conversation nearly 16 months ago between City Clerk Tammy Burick and Councilman Tony Young. The two had worked together on Vero Beach’s 75th and 90th anniversary celebrations and thought the city’s centennial celebration should be bigger and better.
The Barber Bridge was named after state senator and former mayor Merrill Barber.
The history of Vero Beach
A timeline
Waldo, we hardly knew ye
Waldo, we hardly knew ye One of Florida's biggest dreamers and doers, Waldo Sexton brokered some of Vero Beach's most important land deals while building quirky restaurants, a hotel and…
