Instructions:
1....Print this file.
2....At its end, click on "rules" to see a copy of the trail rules, print it, and then click where indicated at the end of the 3-page rules and patch order form to get back to the list of Florida trails.
3....If you want a hand-drawn map showing the locations of all of the sites, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Steve Rajtar, 1614 Bimini Dr., Orlando, FL 32806.
4....Hike the trail and order whatever patches you like (optional).
WARNING - This trail may pass through one or more neighborhoods which, although full of history, may now be unsafe for individuals on foot, or which may make you feel unsafe there. Hikers have been approached by individuals who have asked for handouts or who have inquired (not always in a friendly manner) why the hikers are in their neighborhood. Drugs and other inappropriate items have been found by hikers in some neighborhoods. It is suggested that you drive the hike routes first to see if you will feel comfortable walking them and, if you don't think it's a good place for you walk, you might want to consider (1) traveling with a large group, (2) doing the route on bicycles, or (3) choosing another hike route. The degree of comfort will vary with the individual and with the time and season of the hike, so you need to make the determination using your best judgment. If you hike the trail, you accept all risks involved.
This 1926 brick structure shows a typical utilitarian style of that period.
This section of roadway was a part of the Dixie Highway, which was the dream of Carl Fisher of Indianapolis. He had made his fortune in the new auto industry, and wanted to build a highway from Chicago to Miami. When news got out, many communities formed associations to lobby for inclusion on the route.
The Dixie Highway Association met in Chattanooga and chose a route pasing through Tallahassee and Jacksonville, and proceding south along the east coast. Frenzied lobbying also produced an inland route passing through Gainesville, Ocala, Winter Park, Orlando, Kissimmee, Bartow and Arcadia, rejoining the coastal route at Palm Beach.
In 1915, Fisher led an auto cavalcade from the Midwest to Miami, popularizing auto trips to Florida. The Dixie Highway was officially open for traffic in October of 1925 from the Canadian border at the northern tip of Michigan to Miami.
Old Dixie Hwy. from Sebastian to Ft. Pierce was built by Messrs. Gifford and Hughes. They were paid $22.50 per mile to clear a ten-foot wide right-of-way.
This was the location of the Vero Beach Ice and Storage Company in the 1950s. The Knight brothers sold Blue Crystal Water here. Later, the twin Downtown Office Center buildings were erected on the site.
J.H. Baker and C.E. Sandison built the Vero Theatre as the most modern, most fireproof, and most beautiful in Florida. A.W. Young served as president of the Vero Theatre Corporation, its owner. When St. Lucie County prohibited its being open on Sundays, a group of businessmen proposed to form a new county. Young, a state legislator, introduced the bill that resulted in the formation of Indian River County in 1925.
This building, which had been erected in 1924, served as the new county's first courthouse. Later becoming the Regent Court Apartments, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
This cemetery was acquired by the city in 1930.
The first hospital in Vero Beach was located in this building, erected as a hotel in 1925. The hospital was private, owned and operated by Garnett L. Radin, a registered nurse, opened in May of 1932 and run by her until 1940. Patients were charged $4.50/day for a semi-private room and $5.00/day for a private one.
On June 8, 1940, the Indian River Hospital Association received a charter to operate the facility, renting it form Radin and paying her a salary to run it. She left to serve as a navy nurse in 1942. The building was later turned into apartments, known as Helsel's Apartments, Kline's Apartments and Old Dixie Apartments.
This congregation built a sanctuary and then organized with seven members on November 3, 1908. Elder Daniel B. Sheffield served as its first pastor. It attracted many of the residents of John's Island.
The first schoolhouse in Vero was located on 20th St. east of the railroad tracks, and had Addie King as its first teacher. It was covered with red siding. Later, it was moved to Commerce Ave. and served as a movie theater, restaurant, residence and grocery store.
The second schoolhouse was located here. Later, the Blue Lantern Inn was built here, and was sold in 1943 by Alex Ryburn to J.N. McCowan. The two-story frame hotel was painted white with blue trim.
This is a Mediterranean Revival style building erected in 1926. On the second floor is a parlor where residents could relax and chat. It and the apartments located upstairs were reached by a broad, steep stairway from 21st St.
In Moline, Illinois, Peter Langbehn's bakery burned down in 1920, and he rebuilt it. After his death, his sons Henry W. and Frank P. moved to Florida. They baked Parkerhouse rolls, bread and cinnamon buns during the Depression, and had a store in the Gifford Building. Later, the bakery was moved to this building.
This building was erected in 1925, partly as a rest room for people visiting the adjoining park. An addition containing meeting rooms, a kitchen and a stage was completed in 1935 for $5,000, and became the community center. This gave military personnel a place to socialize during World War II, and a north wing was added in 1943 with a lounge and rest room. This is now the home of the Indian River Citrus Museum.
Nearby is a plaque dedicated in memory of William Jennings Bryan, who gave a speech from a platform erected on that spot on July 2, 1925. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
This courthouse was completed in July of 1936 as a W.P.A. project, and was later replaced by a newer one built several blocks to the west, allowing this to become the Courthouse Executive Center. This building sits on the former site of an alligator pond.
The Indian River Farms Company was established in the early 1900s. It encouraged farmers from the North and Midwest to move here with their cattle, shipped by train. The company deeded this park to the city in 1921, and from then through the 1940s this was a popular place for social gatherings.
The park was first called Bayhead Park, and J. Hudson Baker also used the name on the first hotel in Vero, the 24-room, two-story Bayhead Inn. It was later called the Sleepy Eye Lodge, moved in 1924 to make room for the Vero Del Mar.
This Frame Vernacular station was built in 1903 on the south side of Vero Beach and served the Florida and East Coast Railway. It was remodeled in 1916 and indoor plumbing was installed in 1936.
It was purchased for $1 by the Indian River Historical Society in 1984 and moved to this site. The society maintains an exhibit inside with memorabilia of Vero Beach and Indian River County. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
A store owned here by W.J. Bass became the post office in 1908. Prior to June 15, 1925, the post office was known as Vero, and then changed to Vero Beach. The store burned down and was rebuilt.
During 1951, plans to move the public health office from the Simmons Building were worked on by Kip G. Kelso and Allice Helleso, moving it to 2535 14th Ave. In July of 1965, the new building opened at this location.
The Indian River Chapter of the American Red Cross dedicated this new building on June 12, 1956. Previously, the organization was located on the second floor of a building on 14th Ave., midway between 20th and 21st Sts.
This church began in 1919 and held its first service on January 5, 1919, in the Masonic Room of the Seminole Building. Not long after, they moved to the Myron Hard Library Building. In 1923, a church was completed here.
Dr. J.C. DuBose of Fort Pierce was holding Methodist services in the schoolhouse in 1914, and this church was organized on the second Sunday in April of 1915. A church was built by Christmas on this lot donated by the Indian River Farms Company. The present sanctuary was constructed in 1962.
H.B. Cox bought this lot from the Indian River Farms Company in about 1914 and on it built a five-room Bungalow with an open front porch and cedar shigles. After World War II, it was owned and operated as the Vero Beach Gift Shop by Mr. and Mrs. John Nicol. After they died, it was bought by Gertrude Kal, and after she died it was bought by the Woman's Club. To make room for parking, the house was sold to Grover Fletcher and moved north in 1974 to a site near the US 1 crossing of the North Relief Canal.
The library in 1916 was a small brown-shingled frame building on the block bounded by 1st, Mohawk, 2nd and Cherokee Sts. Myron D. Hard, a retired educator from Missouri, donated 300 of the first 500 books in the library.
In March of 1963, the library moved to a new building, originally suggested by Dr. Von Ogden Vogt and detailed by architect William Taylor, as three books between bookends.
The west portion of this Frame Vernacular style cottage was built in 1915 and served as the library from 1916 to 1962. The east portion was added in the mid-1920s. This building has always been the home of the Woman's Club, founded on February 11, 1915.
This was also the headquarters of the county's Bicentennial committee in 1975-76.
The Methodists first began meeting in the old school building near the railroad tracks when in 1914, circuit rider Rev. T.F. Rowland held services there. A new sanctuary was built in 1917-18 on lots donated by Hoosier Realty Company. The parsonage followed in 1921. Rev. B.T. Rape was the first resident pastor, beginning in January of 1921. It burned down on December 16, 1967.
The next sanctuary was used for the first time on February 4, 1951, and the educational building was finished exactly three years later.
This church was established by Dr. C.H. Pettibone and 82 others in 1924, with the first public service on February 3 of that year. Vero Finance and Improvement Assocaiton donated land, and the first church building was completed in 1926. A manse was built in 1941. The second sanctuary was built for $112,000 and dedicated on November 13, 1955, and the first one was razed in 1957.
The present building at this location was built for $190,000. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.
"Original Town" in 1913 was laid out from 13th to 20th Aves. and from 20th to 26th Sts. Business lots were established with 25 x 125 foot dimensions, and residential lots were 50 x 125 feet. When Edgewood Addition was developed just to the south of Original Town, a jog developed in Osceola Blvd. (20th St.). It was later made less dangerous for drivers by the establishment of this triangular park, dedicated to Mrs. B.T. Redstone.
This congregation had its first mass in June of 1919 in the home of Louis Schlitt, making this the first Catholic Church in Indian River County. Volunteer labor produced the first wooden chapel in 1919, and it was later used as the church hall. The present sanctuary was constructed in the early 1950s, with the old one being moved over and converted to a social hall.
The Indian River Farms Company had offered two lots to each denomination for a church site, with the exception of those who chose to build outside of the town limits. They, including the Catholics, received an entire block.
This congregation organized in 1942 and completed the first portion of its building in February of 1947. Rev. O.E. Osterberg was its first pastor. The sanctuary and fellowship hall were completed in 1954, the north educational wing in 1963, and the followship hall addition in 1966.
J. Hudson Baker built this house in 1924 for his daughter. It has an ornate Mediterranean style.
Ground was broken for construction of this building in February of 1949, and the cornerstone was laid on February 23, 1950.
The main business section of Vero Beach was located here in 1916, consisting of several two-story wooden buildings. Businesses were downstairs and apartments were upstairs. Overhanging balconies protected pedestrians from the rain.
A fire of unknown origin destroyed it in 1918. Included in the caualties were the store of Mr. and Mrs. William B. Allison, the Twitchell Building, the Toole Barbershop, Maher's Department Store, the Pool Room and the Victory Restaurant.
Judge James E. Andrews started the Farmers Bank, the first bank in town, in 1914. Two buildings locted here had to be moved for the new bank building during that year, costing $7,000. In addition to the bank, the Spanish and Moorish style building housed two stores. A second story was added later, and it was remodeled to look like the original Citrus Bank.
The Indian River Citrus was chartered in 1935 and opened here on November 7, 1935. This two-story building with arched windows and a Mission style roof line was expanded and connected to buildings across the street by a tunnel, and later turned into the Vero Furniture Mart.
J.H. Baker and C.E. Sandison built the Mattmueller-O'Malley Building here in 1924, where the White Poodle had formerly been. It was also known as the Redstone Building. In about 2000, it was replaced by a furniture store.
The theater was built in 1924 with skylights which were later covered up, but were rediscovered while the building was being restored. It was turned into a mixed-use complex with upstairs apartments and commercial space.
In 1934, Loy's Clothing Store was also located in this building, and later it was moved across the street.
A department store opened at this location in 1942. A shoe department was added in 1950.
This Mediterranean style structure dates to 1926, as evidenced by the black and white floor tiles inside. It was restored to be used for shops. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since March 3, 1977.
This organization was founded in 1922 with Freeman L. Knight as its president. It occupied a building in this park, which was moved to one side in January of 1954 to make room for its new building.
A History of the First Methodist Church, Vero Beach, Florida, 1914-1954, by Gladys M. Cobb (1954)
Florida Off the Beaten Path, by Diana and Bill Gleasner (The Globe Pequot Press 1993)
Florida's Hibiscus City/Vero Beach, by J. Noble Richards (Brevard Graphics, Incorporated 1968)
Florida's Historic Indian River County, by Charlotte Lockwood (MediaTronics, Inc. 1975)
Florida's History Through Its Places: Properties in the National Register of Historic Places, by Morton D. Winsberg (Florida State University 1988)
Guide to Florida Historical Walking Tours, by Roberta Sandler (Pineapple Press 1996)
Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture, (University of Florida Press 1989)
Pueblo Arcade: A Blend of the Past and the Present, by Bob and Sandy Brackett
Stories of Early Life Along Beautiful Indian River, by Anna Pearl Leonard Newman (Stuart Daily News, Inc. 1953)
Theatre Plaza: A Historic Sense of Place, by Carolyn Short