COVER STORY
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laid down beside the railroad tracks. For five years
it stopped at the water’s edge, where the cars
mounted a ferry for the river crossing. But in 1918,
the highway got a bridge right beside its railroad
counterpart.
Other roads evolved from trails that ran along
property lines determined by the north, south,
east and west government grid. When one of those
roads — today’s Colorado Avenue originally called
Belle Flora after a homesteader’s daughters —
crossed the railroad tracks, it created an intersection
later dubbed Confusion Corner.
POTSDAM
Stuart was first called Potsdam, a name chosen
by the Germans who originally outnumbered settlers
from other countries. The name was submitted
by Otto Stypmann, who became postmaster of the
settlement in 1892. Soon after the railway arrived,
however, the postal duties were transferred to
an Englishman, Broster Kitching, whose brother,
Walter, owned 15 acres on the south side of the St.
Lucie River where the railway bridge met the shore.
Walter Kitching, anticipating the opening of the
region with the coming of the railroad, turned his
trade boat over to his nephew and built a general
store beside the railway bridge. >>
SUSAN BURGESS
Geoffrey Smith’s spectacular Sailfish Fountain symbolizes the city of Stuart’s slogan “Sailfish Capital of the World.” At right, outdoor dining is a trademark
of Stuart’s quaint downtown.
THURLOW COLLECTION
Postmaster Broster Kitching built a new store and post office beside the railway tracks in the early
1900s. This postmark from 1893 came from the era when Stuart was known as Potsdam.
GEOFFREY SMITH