DOWNTOWN
CENTER OF PROGRESS
Downtown Vero Beach has changed since its incorporation in 1919, yet it continues to maintain its quaint feel with a nod to its historical past.
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Downtown pays homage to its early history
despite modern transformation
BY MILT THOMAS
City of Vero Beach 1919-2019 VeroBeach100.org
CHRISTINA TASCON
CASSENS COLLECTION, ARCHIVE CENTER, IRC MAIN LIBRARY
This view of the corner of 14th Avenue and 20th Street in about
1917 shows how sparse downtown Vero was at the time.
When walking the streets of downtown Vero Beach today, it is difficult
for anyone to imagine the Vero of 100 years ago. By 1919,
when the small hamlet of Vero was officially born (“Beach” would
not be added to the name for six years), the population was less
than 800 souls, for the most part farming families who came here to leave the
cold north behind for the promise of a better life. What there was of downtown
existed primarily at the intersection of Osceola Boulevard and Seminole
Avenue, now 20th Street (State Road 60) and 14th Avenue.
Just eight years earlier, Iowa developer Herman Zeuch arrived by train. Looking
over the pristine wetlands he saw his future. He formed the Indian River Land
Co. with partners and bought 55,000 acres, then in 1912 they hired an engineer
from Daytona named Robert Daniel “R.D.” Carter to do a feasibility study. >>
/VeroBeach100.org