VERO OVERVIEW
Businessmen, traveling salesmen and land buyers often found living accomodations at the Sleepy Eye Lodge.
local farm but delayed his departure
because his expense check was late.
To pass the time, he explored the
area, liked what he saw and during
the next few days bought several
parcels of land, totaling 120 acres.
Considered to be one of the area’s
earliest pioneers, Sexton started
selling land for Indian River Farms
Co. Within a few years he was raising
cattle and citrus along with running
a grove maintenance company and
a cooperative packing house. He
also started the Indian River Citrus
League, a dairy farm, an insurance
agency and later in life, McKee
Jungle Gardens and the eclectic
Ocean Grill and Driftwood Inn.
James Hudson Baker, another
pioneer, found his way from Jensen
Beach when Judge J.E. Andrews of
Fort Pierce hired him to build a home
west of Vero. The stately two-story house was a landmark for decades
built numerous downtown structures, too, including the Pocahontas
Redstone Hardware and Building Supply Store.
He built a home for his family that was squarely in the middle of
downtown, at the intersection of 14th Avenue and State Road 60.
“When he found out he was building the town around his
32
on State Road 60 at 58th Avenue. Baker moved to Vero and
Building, Vero Theatre, Farmers Bank, Sleepy Eye Lodge, and
SMITH COLLECTION, ARCHIVE CENTER, IRC MAIN LIBRARY
house, I guess he figured it was too close, so he moved it,” said
grandson J. Douglas Baker Jr., who grew up in the house.
Vero’s early downtown was the crucible for residential neighborhoods
City of Vero Beach 1919-2019 VeroBeach100.org
that sprang up nearby, many anchored by churches
and schools, including Original Town, home to First Baptist
Church, founded in 1912, and Community Church and Church
of Christ Scientist, both of which date from the 1920s; Edgewood,
site of the Freshman Learning Center and now the citysanctioned
Cultural Arts Village; Royal Park, bracketed by First
Presbyterian and Trinity Episcopal churches with the Vero Beach
Country Club at its northern boundary; Osceola Park, an officially
designated historical neighborhood; and McAnsh Park, with St.
Helen Catholic Church at its gateway and the oak-lined Victory
Boulevard its main road. >>
Waldo Sexton was the visionary
behind some of Vero’s
most iconoclastic businesses
and attractions, including the
Driftwood Inn, Ocean Grill and
Patio restaurants and McKee
Jungle Gardens.
YOUNG COLLECTION, ARCHIVE CENTER, IRC MAIN LIBRARY
A house was used to advertise the real estate agency of J.E. Andrews.
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