Port St. Lucie 50th Anniversary
LIVING HISTORY
PORT ST. LUCIE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
General Development Corp., formed by the Mackle brothers, was selling
lots, sight unseen, for $10 down and $10 a month. Send in a coupon for a
lot in “subtropical paradise” and you’d get a contract in the mail.
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In 1953 the Williamses had enlisted the aid of a friend in
Vero Beach to help them with their plans to build a shell shop
on the Treasure Coast.
“He said he’d help them, but they had to build theirs far
away so they wouldn’t be competition for him,” Christine
Williams says. “They picked a desolate area halfway between
Fort Pierce and Stuart and built the Shell Bazaar. The nearest
traffic light to the north was at Virginia Avenue in Fort Pierce,
and to the south was at Colorado Avenue in Stuart.”
THE GDC YEARS
Today the “desolate” area is across from the large Town
Centre shopping plaza, and only about 2,500 feet from the
busy U.S.1-Port St. Lucie Boulevard intersection, with thousands
of cars whizzing by daily.
The store opened in 1953, the same year Look magazine
publisher Gardner Cowles was buying land to the north of
them in an area that would later be known as River Park.
In 1958, when River Park had 42 families, Cowles sold it to
General Development, a subsidiary of the Mackle Company,
owned by brothers Frank Jr., Elliott and Robert Mackle, according
to Richard McAfoos, chairman of the Port St. Lucie Historical
Society. The Mackles sold their interest in GDC in 1962.
GDC began selling “big 80’ x 120’ homesites,” according to
one advertisement, for $10 down and $10 a month.
“Port St. Lucie is a fine, progressive community, built in a
setting of great natural beauty,” the ad said. It went on to talk
about the “happy, relaxed, fun-filled life” of Floridians and
suggested readers send in a coupon and $10 to buy their lot.
A contract would be sent right back to them, the ad promised.
In the 1950s, as the Mackles were selling lots, Florida was
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Congratulations to the City of PSL
on your 50th Anniversary
From the entire Post Family and the family of Post Insurance
Offices in St. Lucie West and PSL Blvd
24/7
Get your quote today.
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772.878.8184
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Port St. Lucie’s “Pioneer Families”
Residents since 1969
Business owners since 1979
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