LIVING HISTORY
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
Plans for Port St. Lucie’s ‘historic village’
move forward
Many of Port St. Lucie’s residents and visitors are
unaware that part of the 1979 James Bond film
Moonraker was filmed on the St. Lucie River because
of its similarity to the Amazon, or that the
name of Elkcam Waterway is “Mackle” spelled backwards,
homage paid to the three Mackle brothers whose General
Development Corporation of the late 1950s sparked Port St.
Lucie’s first growth spurt. GDC also put one of its model
homes in Grand Central Station in New York City to entice
prospective buyers for what is now River Park. The siren
call of “$10 down, $10 a month” brought the initial flocks of
snowbirds south.
Perhaps because Port St. Lucie has been spotlighted as one
of the fastest growing communities in the nation, it’s easy
to overlook its history. Approaching the 60th anniversary
of the city’s incorporation, the area’s history can actually be
measured in centuries. A Native American mound within the
97-acre Spruce Bluff Preserve dates back to 100-300 B.C.
Hikers at Spruce Bluff can visit the site of an 1891 pioneer
settlement that once contained homes, a school, post office and >>
18 Port St. Lucie Magazine
ELLEN GILLETTE
Two wood-frame buildings, one from 1917 and the other from 1950, took a two-day journey from the Peacock Ranch in southwestern St. Lucie County to
Westmoreland Boulevard near the Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens to become the start of a historical village.
BY ELLEN GILLETTE