LIVING HISTORY
18
VERO AT 100
They were called “divisionists,”
which is a word used often
in previous decades around the
United States due to county divisions
in many states. From Stuart to
Sebastian during the month of April
1925, mass meetings and gatherings
frequently occurred consisting of
those who supported the division
and those who opposed it. The antidivisionists
wanted a referendum
placed in any bill to give the citizens
of St. Lucie County an opportunity to
vote on the question of division.
More than 130 divisionists from
Vero, Quay (Winter Beach), Wabasso
and Sebastian boarded a train in
early May from the Vero station to
Tallahassee in support of a bill for
county division. Objectors also attended
but were outnumbered three
to one.
That same month the House approved
the new county with changes
in boundaries, and Vero was named
the county seat. Many House members
were no doubt still affected
by the wounds McCain had shown
to the governor a month earlier. In
the Senate, the hot debate over the
creation of Indian River County >>
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY MAIN LIBRARY ARCHIVES, INDIAN RIVER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Some of the people from Vero are standing on the old capital steps in Tallahassee on May 5, 1925. They
later returned to Tallahassee for the resumption of anti-division fights. A referendum was proposed that
would have delayed the approval.
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY MAIN LIBRARY ARCHIVES, INDIAN RIVER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The Indian River County delegation was applying for county status. About 16 of them, including three women, presented arguments in favor of the division.
The delegation left that night and headed back home.