LIVING HISTORY
Long known for our world-famous citrus, St. Lucie, Martin
and Indian River counties became known as the Treasure
Coast after the discovery of riches off our shores in the 1960s
BY JANIE GOULD
PHOTO BY ROB DOWNEY
There was a time when our three counties had no special
name other than, perhaps, Indian Riverland. St.
Lucie, Martin and Indian River counties were defined
by their principal towns, which also served as their county
seats – Fort Pierce, Stuart and Vero Beach. There were no
other towns of any consequence in the region.
Fort Pierce, Stuart and Vero were distinct, mostly self-contained
communities linked mainly by U.S. 1 and high school
football rivalries. Vast amounts of undeveloped land lay
between each city, and since the turnpike and I-95 were still
on the drawing board, there wasn’t much commuting. The
only region residents considered themselves to be part of
was South Florida for those in Martin County and east central
Florida for those in Indian River County. Fort Pierce, a
retail hub that attracted shoppers from Vero, was betwixt
and between. Port St. Lucie, now the most populous community
in the region, had barely a subdivision or two in the
early 1960s.
Treasured History
>>
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MEL FISHER TREASURE MUSEUM
13
These are some of the doubloons recovered from the 1715 Plate Fleet
recovered off the shores of the Treasure Coast.