VERO AT 100
LIVING HISTORY
PAM COOPER COLLECTION
Just a few days after deciding to make Vero his home in 1913, Waldo wrote
an article Wromoting the Ienefits of the climate, the Ienefits of the soil and
the affordability of land. “Although I have only been here ten days, I have
a house and a barn under construction and have seeded small patches of
alfalfa and sweet cloer and find this morning that the seeds hae sWrouted
and are making vigorous growth,’’ he wrote. Whether this claim was a
mere promotion or fact is unproven. Waldo wouldn’t begin building what
would become his family home until 1917.
13
'rtu: I-N-D-IA-N---RIVER FARMEH - ---_.
AN AGRICULTURAL HPfRTS OPINION Of INOIAN RlYfR fARMS,
I I
Here I, ~ IHtef froln ono of the bost lIl'Irthorltlea In tho country. Thl. mill, W. E. Sexton, went unsolicited to INDIAN RIVER FARMS after looking In vain
throllllhout the counl,')' for the dgh! kind of 8011 for Inrmlno, lind he bouoht one hllndrt'd ",111 twenty acres of It. He dIdn't rake the wOl'd of tho'se who owned land there.
We lent no IIgent to Interest him and boost the l;llld. He CilnlC of his own accord. saw for himself, bOllght ilS much I'Hld as he could "hDndfe lind the following letter ~~~~~hJ:od~:'e:~;~~~tII~~Ih~~8"11"~~ph~l:ltr~~8Ch~~;idtrll;~:~nd~~~~~~e~~i'c~u~~~~~Y,!"~~';O;I~IJ~e~ndse~Il';h;~~~r~~I8l~~;l"b~~,rtl~I~O'AH~N~eV;lEV{~~~t~i~o.moneor our leildlng
VOl'O, Ptor-idn, Nov, '!G, 19J3. III uddlt.lnn to the above require- 1 hnd just about gtven Ill> ine Idea 'rhls land is underlaid with marl,
Mr. A, M. Hlll, mente, the land shOUld btl ciosetr I(}- of rnrmlnj:;", for whenever 1 rounu all the best rorm of land tor agrtculturaj
xanens City Mo co teo to 'UlO market ut' runrocu, and of these necessary requirements, the purposes and In places, in the land 1
, . ill It ellmatu whore one cun produce prtce or the lund was so high .that It have selected, the top six Inches shows
Dear Ml'. Hll1:-Sinco tallt.lllg to crops the ynm- urouud, because Lthlulc prohibited il. young man rom' buying a good pel' cent at lime, _ My eon
YO\lI tllought possibly you might be of It rarui fUI It Iautut'y and one cannot It large enough tract to jusllfy him in ranges tram six to twelve Incbee In
Interested to 101ow w~IY 1 purchased a get large returns from a factory if he farming it, until r came to Vera F'Ier- depth in the sandy loam eon and from
jaarmY aotf vtheerc lntlFinlonrldnR.iver-ThFern-fmoial Cvolm- closes it down SI.X months alit or a Ilds...,. wheerre I roun d a v I"rgm, warm, 9II.: Inches to five feet in the' muck
.' p 11 , ' 0\ mg d f 1 II 1 I 1 sandy loam soil well filled with vese- formation, The soil Is filled with life,
arc some or my reasons: ycn,r nn . '.let !I II IS lllen t le l'e· table matter ~vlth as luxul'iant a which Is ready to ,burst torth with
I havo beell interested In fanning mallling Sll.: lllHI that Is what he does growth of natural gl'llsses as I have some,pf the greatest crops that bave
ever since I can re.lllcmber, as I wus UjJ uorth, even seen. evel'- been produced in any soli, In
reared ou a farm In lhe corn belt or fact, 1 was so thorougbly ~convlnced
Indiana, I bclleve in fnrming so much that 1 purchased one bundred twenty
thILt r wOl"lq~d llnd paId my own way a
through the Pel'duo Agricullurnl Col- acr s" ,
I t d I
Although r bave only been 'herG ten
lege, ocn e at Lafayette, ndll1.11ll.. days, 1 h;t.vEla house and a barn under
Anol' grn.dulltlng, begnll loolting for construction and have seeded 'small
IaIwfnarlsOtaleanll,i11u'saLtu, rbreilclyau, se looIkeldmewin tmhey pate.bes o~ alfalfa and sweet clover ap,d
land there and 1mew what It would find this momlng that tbe seeds have
produce,' But when 1 wenl out to buy sllrouted nnd are 'making vigorous
BfaI'm, 1 found tllnl land In that state growth. 1 know lhnt the land will prawas
too high fot me to buy a very duee all tlte general farm and truckIng
largo tracl of laud .there nnd pa.y for cropa, as well as citrus frults, so that
it with the crops tbat r would be ablo ewrnhenstacteo,minngo ofnroemnenednofrethaerrnon.,oarccwoielnsttta
produce in tlle short g1'Owing sea· of their Ignorallce of oitrus fruit cul-
Bon we have in that state, so I quit ture. -
looking for n farm nnd accepted a
positiOn In a largo farm at Bal'barton, With corn selling at $1.16 a., :bushel.
Oblo, From thel'e I went to Cleve, Hay at -$25 per' ton, 'and oa~s_"a't $2.25
11IIld,0hlo, for the Spalding Tilling per bag and land selllng at $65.00 per
Machine ~ompnny, and had as my tel'- acre of the type I havs described on
rltory {Ill the states east alld south o( an easy 'payment 'plan, one need not
Ob,io. ' fear to pilrchase the land and plant
1 have baeil pl'ctty well over the tel" the crops that It will produce and
ritory and have llnd au opporhlIllty to use gQod judgment in-the selection of
study salle. crops :llld farm vahles, as the one to opera.te· tbe. farm If he is
my worle tal!\':s tile into the farming not a{raid to app,ly bimself.
sections altogether, What the country· and land needs
is fresh, new blood and young IDen
In my demollstratlon work, I see top with BOllted capital wbo will have to
soli and slib soil as my plow tUl'llS a work their lands themselves. :
furrow sll.:teen Inches deep. All tbe Trusting that you will have good
tlmc r have been engaged in 'ths work success in showing .more young men
I have been loolling ror a place where how tHey can become land owners' in
I could Invesl my savings in tarm this country~ 1 am, --
~~s. . ~ry~uly~~:
My experience hilS been that the
man w!rn"!1 getting the greatest re- , W .. E .. SEXTON;
turns In mOl.ley, inv~sted in land fOI' " 'I 11. S -I helped my man make his
larmlnp purposes Is the one who has. ' !"ar"'bJt' tbl! 'I':Iql'll-!D-g While engaged
1 warm," sahdy loam soil, wblch is eas. in tb~ work! wff,M~ame tblrsty, and
lly worked and .responds readily. to ' r;'q' I');I?ve no wen ;)"J. my farm as yet,
good tl'eatment and yet has a SUb-soil I~'8,; 'wete n.thout water, but we
that will hold the fertility and keep ·l;!l~tielic.d 0<11' tbll'st, plucking some
from leaching. This land must be. - <::!:.v;CIe:lcrang'es olf a tree In ,a neigh·
wen drained, close enough to get a tor'~ grp".e' - ltfter we. finlsbed oUr
8ullply of !lme, so that the price ot worllln nit' g9.rdpll, we drove down to
the lime will not prohibit ttie use of a the ocean and I had a swim In the saIt
Uboml amount of lime per acre, as one water and jumped a rew brealters, On
tannot get the mllxllllllm returns from my return to the hotel. I picked up a.
his elfortB In acio soll. 'rhel'e should paper and read that there was twelve
be plenty of llumlls or vegetable in inches of 'SllOWIn Indianapolis, Wb,a.~
thls type of soil to hold the molatul'e does one gain in life, anyway, If thIngs
and rllrnlsh the ultro~e, ollr most ex- like the Olles above don't co.unt tor
pensIve fertilizer, W. E. S~)l:ton and a Few Grapefruits. something'! V;, E, S.
nity Mewelry, such as fraternity pins, from pawn shops and
resell them to fraternity members. He also worNed doorto
door selling utensils.
After graduating from college, he began worNing on the
farm of 2.&. Barber, who was Nnown as the 'iamond 0atch
.ing. Besides matches, Barber made a fortune in a succession
of industrial ventures, including the manufacture of sewer
pipe, steel tubes, steel boilers, fire etinguishers and subways.
His last proMect was the purchase of a ,acre farm.
,t was no ordinary farm. Barber had founded it as a scientific
farm that would employ the latest and most ecient
agricultural practices, mirroring the eciencies of his various
industrial operations. 7he farm featured structures, many
of them built in the )rench 5enaissance 5evival style and
adhering to Barber·s belief that farms should be both beautiful
and functional.
'uring his two years with Barber, :aldo helped improve
milN cow and hog productivity of the stocN, which included a
worldrecord, milNproducing *uernsey.
Barber had also recently completed a room mansion
that was described by the New York Times as ´the finest
mansion between 1ew <orN and &hicago.·· :aldo lived in a
section of the antiTuefilled mansion and tooN his meals with
Barber·s family.
´:aldo·s creative career was strongly inÁuenced by his
association with Barber,·· biographer *ross wrote. ´7here,
he learned to appreciate the finer things in life. <ears later,
:aldo said he learned his ¶city manners· at Barber·s house ³
from :aldo·s personal butler, at 0r. Barber·s pleasure.··
ARRIVAL IN VERO
:aldo·s early life eTuipped him with multiple attributes
that would lead to his success an ability and willingness to
engage in hard labor advanced Nnowledge of modern agricultural
techniTues an appreciation for art and fine antiTues
and, above all, an ability to dream big and to promote and
sell almost anything.
After leaving Barber·s farm, he became a traveling salesman
for the Spalding 'eep 7illing 0achine. A chance to demonstrate
the machine brought him in 1ovember to 9ero,
which was then Must a postal designation. 7he city wouldn·t
be incorporated for si more years.
:aldo·s demonstration with oen pulling the plow ³
recorded by a photographer ³ went awry and was largely
blamed on )lorida·s sandy soil. At the time, he was staying at
the Sleepy Eye Lodge ³ the community·s only hotel ³ and
decided to stay another days. *randson Sean Seton says
he was waiting for a part to arrive from company headTuarters
in &leveland, which had been hit with a snow storm.
'uring the wait he decided to permanently settle in 9ero.
Using his life savings of , he put a down payment on
acres of land on th Street, feet of oceanfront property
and a business lot. ´, fell in love with )lorida the first day
and , thinN , set some sort of record,·· he said.
7he 9ero that the yearold :aldo encountered was a
community of Must a few hundred people in . 'owntown
was Must a crossroad with a few buildings, such as the Sleepy
Eye Lodge. 7he whole town was his blanN canvas.
7o the west were )lorida bacNwoods and swamps that
would need to be cleared and drained, and where :aldo
would build his homestead, plant citrus and raise beef and
dairy cows. 7o the south was the land he would develop with
partner Arthur 0c.ee into the city·s signature tourist attraction,
0c.ee -ungle *ardens. And to the east lay the barrier >>
Waldo and Elsebeth smooch in front of the one-story homestead shortly
after their marriage in 1918.