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— Martin County Centennial 1925-2025 —
Preparing for the next 100 years
Martin County’s great achievement in connection with celebrating its 100 years of existence since 1925 is establishing “Martin Digital History.” Commissioner Doug Smith got the ball rolling in 2022 by charging Martin County Library Director Jennifer Salas to explore the possibilities for digitizing historical items of local significance.
He envisioned making them available, not only for the county’s centennial but...
A little flattery and a lot of pluck helped Martin make the cut
They believed a county of their own would usher in an explosion of prosperity. But it wasn’t only the business leaders in tiny Stuart, Florida, who were chasing after a windfall. It was the Roaring Twenties. The entire nation was acting upon false premises, which time would shortly reveal...
The history of Martin CountyMartin County is created from northern Palm Beach County and a portion of St. Lucie County. Stuart is the county seat. A former school becomes the courthouse...
The communities that make up Martin County have a varied history
Jensen was designated a post office on April 17, 1890. Four years later, with the coming of Henry Flagler’s railway, John L. Jensen subdivided a portion of his homestead as the Town of Jensen. Pineapple growing and commercial fishing were the main industries. The most prosperous resident was wholesale fish dealer, R.R. Ricou...
Local artist keeping 'Life in focus'
“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see,” a famous quote by Thoreau and the slogan of Gallery 36 and the belief of photography artist Lisa Renee Ludlum.
Capturing the beauty in the moment of her surroundings is a gift that Lisa Renee Ludlum has practiced all of her life; from the time she was a little girl taking photos in her mother’s rose garden...
The criminal life and violent times of the Ashley Gang
The Ashley Gang was Florida’s most notorious crime family of the 20th century, using a tiny community now in Martin County as its base of operations...
Newspapers were key to county development
Martin County’s lucky stars lined up when illness brought Edwin Menninger to the St. Lucie River Region, changing its journalistic future forever.
Newspapers were already circulating before Menninger’s arrival...
The Architecture of Martin County defined
by boom and bust economies
Martin County was a product of the great Florida real estate boom of the 1920s. Some of the buildings of the era have not only survived but have been lovingly restored. The real estate boom, which was behind the creation of Martin County, did not last...
When Dr. John T. Henderson, a successful physician from Cleveland, Ohio, came to this region during the real estate boom, it was to oversee his property interests — not continue practicing medicine...
Witham Field began as the
lofty dream of a local aviator
Albert Paul “Bert” Krueger had returned home to Stuart as a World War I flying ace. His parents were early pioneers of Martin County, where Bert and his siblings had grown up on the family’s pineapple farm.
Museum feeds the need to preserve local heritage
As Martin County celebrates its centennial, it’s the perfect opportunity to step back in time and learn about the interesting people and places that have shaped its history. Along Flagler Avenue, in Downtown Stuart, a beloved building has been a part of the county’s history for more than a hundred years...
Sparkling memories of a sleepy Eden
In summertime, our nights were filled with stars. The rest of the year we had all the bright lights of a major city without humongous buildings and hordes of people. In the 1960s, flower farms galore gave sparsely populated Martin County its claim to being the Chrysanthemum Capital of the World...
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