EDITOR’S NOTE 100 historical years and counting
Indian River Magazine is proud to present this special issue marking
Vero Beach’s centennial celebration, which begins this month and
continues through October 2019.
In these pages, we take readers back to the beginning of Vero
Beach, when the town was known as Vero, a sparsely populated and
swampy outpost on the northern end of St. Lucie County. We recount
how the Indian River Farms Co. acquired 50,000 acres and launched a
massive reclamation project early in the 20th century that made the land
suitable for vegetable farming and later, for citrus. Farmers were enticed
to buy a few acres of newly drained land and take advantage of a balmy
climate that held out the promise of three crops a year.
Agriculture became the backbone of its economy, but small businesses, fishing, tourism and
home construction soon allowed Vero Beach to diversify and its population to grow.
We trace the impact World War II had on the city. Thousands of Navy and Marine Corps pilots
trained at the U.S. Naval Air Station at the Vero Beach airport, and many settled in the area after
the war.
The postwar baby boom brought more growth and created the need for more schools, which
sprouted up in the 1950s.
Those baby boomers, like myself, are mostly retired and many still live in Vero Beach or have
moved back after careers elsewhere.
Returning residents find a community that has changed in some ways, but in other ways is still
the hometown they remember.
The banyan trees that lined 20th Street between 20th and 27th avenues are gone, but the
adjacent McAnsh Park neighborhood with its spider web of streets that converge at Troy Moody
Park is unchanged. The booming downtown and the beach business district retain their smalltown
charm, and some shop owners have welcomed customers in the same location for decades.
The beachfront is mostly unaffected by the high-rise mania of other coastal counties. Vero Beach
officials and others have worked hard to control population density and prevent urban sprawl.
As a child growing up in Vero in the 1950s and ’60s, I remember riding bikes everywhere and
summers were spent in the water. I still remember the first time I floated face-down in the ocean.
The Red Cross set up stations on the beach where kids of varying abilities were taught to swim. I
never thought I’d learn to float, but one summer day, when the water was at its calmest and clearest,
I held my breath, put my head down and conquered my fear of the water.
The pool at the Windswept Hotel on the beach offered more advanced aquatic adventures with
its high diving board that seemed to soar above the ground. I jumped but never tried to dive. The
pool was emptied and filled every week with saltwater pumped from the ocean. Occasionally, a
crab or small shark ended up in the pool, sending swimmers scattering to safety.
Water held other fascinations, too. There was a drainage ditch between our home and our
neighbors, and when it filled up after a storm, my friends and I would have a contest to see who
could collect the most tadpoles. I’m not sure how we counted them, though.
Whenever I hear a crunch as I walk over pine needles at a park or preserve, I am reminded of
the vacant lots in neighborhoods being developed in mid-century. Kids built tree houses and
forts in the woods and climbed trees, and nobody chased us away. It really was a simpler time.
Newcomers have discovered Vero Beach, too, which has produced an interesting mix of people,
many of whom have quickly become involved in civic affairs. The city’s Vero 100 Centennial Committee
brings together longtime and new residents, all enthusiastic about Vero Beach and its
storied history.
When Allen Osteen and Gregory Enns founded Indian River Magazine 12 years ago, they decided
that local history would be a key feature of their publication. Nearly every issue includes a story
on Treasure Coast history. And throughout the centennial celebration, Indian River Magazine will
continue to feature stories on Vero Beach history in each issue through October 2019. If you aren’t
already a subscriber, just visit www.indianriverstore.com or fill out and mail in a subscription card
found inside this issue.
We hope you’ll participate in many of the centennial celebrations listed in our calendar beginning
on Page 112. Enjoy this special issue celebrating the history of Vero Beach.
VeroBeach100.org
Publisher & Editor
Gregory Enns
772.940.9005
enns@indianrivermag.com
Associate Publisher
Allen Osteen
Editor
Janie Gould
Copy Editors
Judith Collins, Pattie Durham,
Gaettane A. Paul
Design Editor
Michelle Moore-Burney
Writers
Janie Gould, Rody Johnson, Milt Thomas,
Willi Miller, Gregory Enns, Kerry Firth
Photographers
Phil Reid, Christina Tascon,
Jim Wilson, John Biondo
Cover
Main photo by John Biondo. Top left, bottom left and
bottom right historical photos are from the Sexton,
Brackett and Dodger collections at the Archive Center
of the Indian River County Main Library. Photo
top right is from the Florida Photographic Collection.
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Vero at 100 is published by
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308 Ave. A, Fort Pierce, FL 34950.
Indian River Magazine publishes five times
a year: January, March, May, October
and November. Member of Indian River
County Chamber of Commerce.
6 City of Vero Beach 1919-2019
Janie Gould
Editor, Vero at 100
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