DOWNTOWN
CASSENS COLLECTION, ARCHIVE CENTER, IRC MAIN LIBRARY
Sleepy Eye Lodge, built in 1913, was one of downtown’s first buildings. Newspaper
“My grandfather said when he arrived in Vero he could stand
on the Indian River bank and looking west he saw nothing but
swamp land as far as the eye could see,” said Marvin Carter, retired
president of Carter and Associates.
Charles Gilbert Redstone, a saw mill operator, came by wagon
following paths used by local Indian tribes and wild animals. His
sons, Bayard Taylor and Ray, brought the mill down by flatboat.
They set up shop by the railroad tracks where 60 Minute Cleaners is
today. They would provide lumber for most of the structures in the
emerging town including the Woman’s Club building, built in 1915,
that served as the town’s first library and still stands across from
today’s Main Library.
SLEEPY START
Sleepy Eye Lodge, built by the Indian River Land Co. in 1913
with wood from the Redstone mill, was surrounded by vacant
land in the heart of downtown. A railroad station, first built in
1903 on the east side of the tracks, was improved over the years >>
VeroBeach100.org City of Vero Beach 1919-2019 71
accounts say it was originally called the Bay Head Inn.
SMITH POST CARD COLLECTION, ARCHIVE CENTER, IRC MAIN LIBRARY
An early view of Seminole Avenue (14th Avenue today) in downtown Vero.
/www.historicdodgertown.com
/VeroBeach100.org