VERO OVERVIEW
SMITH COLLECTION, ARCHIVE CENTER, IRC MAIN LIBRARY
E.C. Walker poses with a mid-winter crop of grapefruit in his Vero grove.
Indian River Farms began to drain thousands of acres of swamp.
At the time, freezes had decimated much of Florida’s citrus
crop, but Herman learned that a grove in Vero was unscathed, his
grandson Warren Zeuch said in a 2006 interview.
“The grove was at the corner of what is now State Road 60 and
58th Avenue,” Warren said. “It was owned by Mr. Eli Walker and it
had survived freezes that wrecked citrus in Florida. Grandfather
decided he had to go down and see it. His first trip here was in
1909, and apparently around 1910 he decided to bring an engineer,
had to be done by boats.”
Indian River Farms Co. bought the land from Walker, drained it
by digging a network of canals, and eventually subdivided it into
small farms.
“It was 50,000 acres,” Warren said. “Fifty cents an acre.”
PROJECT SPURS GROWTH
A 1913 ad in an Indianapolis newspaper urged readers to give
lots in Indian River Farms to their children and grandchildren as
Christmas presents. The company said the warm climate in Florida
meant that farmers could raise vegetables and citrus year round.
30
R.D. Carter, down from North Carolina. Most of the surveying
HAFFIELD COLLECTION, ARCHIVE CENTER, IRC MAIN LIBRARY
Members of a first-grade class pose in front of the school with their teacher in
1924.
“No bills for coal, heavy clothing or heartening food,” another
ad states. “Cut down on the high cost of living at Vero, Florida.”
The St. Lucie County Tribune dubbed its northern neighbor
“Vigorous Vero.” The newspaper also referred to Vero as the
modern community of St. Lucie County. In 1917, the Vero Weekly
Bulletin announced, “Rice is Another Excellent Vero Crop.” Placards
touted the region with the slogan “Grow Two Crops a Year!” and
the Florida East Coast Railway made it possible for farmers to ship
their produce by rail rather than boat.
The Vero Press said the Indian River Farms drainage project was
instrumental in giving the town’s fortunes a much-needed boost.
“The little village began to take on new life,” the newspaper said.
“A hotel (Sleepy Eye Lodge) was built to accommodate visiting
land buyers, and new homes and business buildings began to go
up. From that time forward, the town’s progress has never ceased.”
PIONEERS COME TO TOWN
The Sleepy Eye Lodge also catered to the occasional traveling
salesman, including Waldo Sexton, who sold agricultural tillage
equipment. Sometime between 1912 and 1914, depending on to
whom you talk, Sexton was in town to give a demonstration at a >>
City of Vero Beach 1919-2019 VeroBeach100.org
SMITH COLLECTION, ARCHIVE CENTER, IRC MAIN LIBRARY
This early photo of the first bridge shows the tenuous connection between
the beach and mainland.
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