LIVING HISTORY
PARIS PRODUCTIONS
ED DRONDOSKI
Charles Gifford, great-grandson of Vero Beach founder Henry T. Gifford, said his ancestor decided to settle here after visiting the area in 1887. The name
Vero, derived from the Latin form of the word truth, was suggested by Henry Gifford’s wife, Sarah.
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This cake was the culinary centerpiece of Vero Beach’s 90th birthday, observed in October.
now known as Vero. The name, from
the Latin form of a word meaning truth,
was suggested by Gifford’s wife, Sarah.
A teacher who knew Latin, she apparently
envisioned the new community
as a place of truth, according to Pam
Cooper, genealogy and Florida history
librarian at the Indian River County
main library.
Later, the Giffords’ son, who had the
curious name Friend Charles Gifford,
became the postmaster. And when the
Florida East Coast railroad opened a
station in Vero in 1903, he became the
ticket agent. He farmed 160 acres now
in the middle of town and planted the
area’s first citrus grove. The family’s
two-story farmhouse survives, near
State Road 60 and U.S. 1.
“They liked the river and land,”
Charles Gifford said. “That’s probably
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