VERO OVERVIEW
CENTURY OF PROGRESS
Indian River Farms Co. used promotional material to entice northerners to its land in Vero during the early years of the 20th century. The plats laid out for Indian
River Farms would become the heart of the city of Vero Beach.
Like many latter-day retirees
Beach, a Vermonter named Henry
T. Gifford checked out Titusville,
Fort Pierce and the swamps now
known as Miami before moving to
Vero in 1887, when it was unnamed,
unknown and mostly uninhabited.
“He came down here for his
health, and there was nobody here
but Indians and folks running from
the law,” said third-generation native
Charles Gifford, Gifford’s greatgrandson.
28
Small settlement evolves from swampland to
Indian River gem known as Vero Beach
who visit towns up and
down Florida’s east coast before
deciding to settle in Vero
“He liked this area, so he
went back, packed up everything —
horses and everything — and came
down on a deck barge. The family
pitched a tent on the Indian River to
start off with, then built a log cabin.”
Though digs at the Old Ice Age
archaeological site show the first humans
inhabited the area thousands
of years earlier, Henry Gifford is
considered the founder of modernday
Vero. He planted pineapples,
helped build Dixie Highway and was
responsible for lighting the channel
markers in the Indian River every >>
City of Vero Beach 1919-2019 VeroBeach100.org
SMITH COLLECTION, ARCHIVE CENTER, IRC MAIN LIBRARY
BY JANIE GOULD
Henry and Sarah Gifford were among the first permanent
settlers in Vero, moving here in 1887 from Randolph,
Vermont, with their three children.
/VeroBeach100.org