02/09/2024
A very long read about the history of Palm City, my hometown! This was from an article published in 2011 for the 100th anniversary. Great read!
PALM CITY ? In 1912, when Palm Beach County developer Charles C. Chillingworth platted what has become Palm City, there was just one home.
This year, as the Martin County community celebrates the 100th anniversary of its founding, there are an estimated 10,939 residences, as well as stores, shopping centers, factories, warehouses, churches and schools, golf courses, marinas, a cemetery, a number of farms and ranches and more than 20,000 permanent residents.
On March 16, the Palm City Chamber of Commerce will have a 100th anniversary celebration at the Floridian, one of the community's upscale, gated, golf course communities, complete with a dinner and dance, fireworks and special recognitions of the remaining pioneer families.
The events celebrating the anniversary are intended to help modern residents appreciate the history of the community, said Carolyn Davi, chamber executive director. A number of people who have grown up in Palm City will be sharing reminiscences with the public.
"It was a great place to live," said Johnny Leighton, a 69-year-old member of a pioneer Palm City family. "It was small. Everyone knew everyone else. It is not like that now, with people in their gated communities and only seeing each other in stores."
Leighton, who has lived all his life in Palm City, said the area has made a major transition from a rural agricultural community, where citrus, small farms, beef cattle and dairies set the lifestyle, to the golf-oriented community of upscale houses in landscaped communities behind walls and guarded gates.
There were no gated communities in the early days of Palm City. Residents didn't even lock their doors.
"It was a very safe feeling," said Mabel Blasko Witham, 88, a member of another pioneer family. "There wasn't a door you could not go in for help if you were a child."
How it began
Historical records, old newspaper clippings and a number of pamphlets present a fascinating story about Palm City.
The Florida real estate boom was gathering steam in 1912, when Chillingworth and his partner, Harry C. Feroe, bought the land where early Palm City would rise on the South Fork of the St. Lucie River.
They copied the work of Benjamin Mumford, who founded what is now Port Salerno, offering a house lot in the city to anyone who bought 10 acres for a farm. They placed advertisements nationwide, praising the healthy climate, the fertile soil and long growing season. A demonstration farm was established to show new arrivals what could be done.
Many people bought their land unseen, packed their belongings and moved to Florida hoping to start a new life.
One of the drawbacks of the community in the early 1900s was transportation. A ferry carried people across the South Fork of the St. Lucie River to go to school, shop or seek medical care in Stuart. First, a wooden bridge, then a four-lane, high-rise, concrete bridge have been built to span the river during the community's 100 years.
Now, a second bridge crossing the South Fork, the Veterans Memorial Bridge, is nearing completion from Indian Street in Stuart to 36th Street in Palm City.
In the early days of the community nestled on the western shore, people used the river for a highway. If you had a vehicle in Palm City, Leighton recalled, you had to carry jacks and boards to get it out of the mud in the winter and the sand in the summer.
A GROWING COMMUNITY
Palm City grew slowly but steadily.
A store opened to serve visitors and residents in 1912. The Palm Villas Hotel, three stories tall with 19 rooms opened by the ferry landing, near where the present bridge now joins Martin Downs Boulevard.
Frank Barat established Moore Dairy with four cows in 1913. The U.S. Post Office opened in 1914 with the name "Palm City."
By 1919, the first wooden draw bridge between Stuart and Palm City opened.
Florida was booming and civic pride was unbounded when in February 1921, 47 residents of the area petitioned for a charter to incorporate as a town. Chillingworth added an incentive to create the town by pledging all the waterfront lots along the river for public parks. The town formed but later was abolished because it could not pay its bills.
Palm City began as a town in Palm Beach County. In 1925, Gov. John Martin signed the act creating the new county named for him and Palm City became part of Martin County. The next year, Florida Power & Light Co. brought regular electric service to the region. The town's population was 95 people.
When the Florida "boom" turned into a "bust" a year before the Great Depression, Palm City, which had survived the 1928 hurricane, was hard hit financially and in 1937, the town was abolished by the Legislature because it was insolvent. It took until 1963 for a special taxing district to pay off the town's debts.
In 1940, William J. "Bill" Matheson founded Crane Creek Ranch as a beef cattle ranch. He later branched out to grow roses commercially and became the fifth largest grower of roses for the cut flower market in the United States.
Palm City became a major center of the cut flower industry, shipping chrysanthemums, roses, lilies across the nation.
The flower farmers strung long lines of lights over their fields so they could regulate the amount of light and make the flowers grow taller. One result was that an air traveler passing over the area at night would believe he or she was seeing a major city along the river.
Rising land values and competition from South America eventually ended the flower industry's position as a financial engine for the region in the mid 1970s. Only a few flower farms still operate.
RISE OF THE SUBDIVISION
In 1953 Pelican Cove, the community's first, formal subdivision was platted.
A portent of the change to come was the start of work in the Sunshine State Parkway, now Florida's Turnpike, in 1955. A furious debate developed over the location of the turnpike interchange. Many wanted it placed on Kanner Highway in Tropical Farms, but Palm City leaders persuaded the County Commission to recommend its location in Palm City. When it opened, Palm City became a main entrance for travelers into Martin County.
In the mid 1960s, the character of Palm City, which had a population of slightly more than 4,000, began to change from rural and agricultural to upscale residential.
The old Palm City Bridge was replaced by new, high-level span that opened in 1970.
In 1975, the M&W Land Company, owned by Matheson and developer William "Bill" Watson, sought permission to open an 87-acre, ranch-style subdivision complete with a golf course in return for the donation of a Palm City road system, including a boulevard from the entrance of the turnpike to the Palm City Bridge. It set the pattern for development.
Developers began creating subdivisions such as Seagate Harbor, Four Rivers, Lighthouse Point, Rustic Hills and others.
Watson named his proposed development, the largest single such project in Palm City, Martin Downs and included a proposed university site, shopping and entertainment centers and a high population community. But he did not have the financial resources to bring it on line and he and Matheson sold the property to Southern Realty headed by a Canadian investor, Peter Cummings, in 1980.
Cummings continued most of Watson's plan and that sparked opposition from an organization headed by Louise Carnevale, called "The Coalition to Save Palm City." When the County Commission took up the plans, coalition members wearing black armbands carried a casket into the meeting to symbolize what they said would be the "death of Palm City." The commission delayed action until a land plan was completed by the county.
In 1980, the project was further delayed when the coalition pointed out that Cummings' proposal would necessitate construction of a second bridge over the South Fork of the St. Lucie River. Construction of that bridge would not begin until 2011, long after the building restrictions cited by Coalition members had been exceeded.
In 1983, after two years of vigorous debate and many alterations and concessions by Cummings, the Martin County Commission in a 3-2 vote approved the plan for Martin Downs. The proposal covering 2,418 aces was to have 5,000 homes, country clubs, shops, churches and other infrastructure, and be home to about 14,000 people.
Developer John Dodge followed quickly, buying up land that actually is located in St. Lucie County but has a Palm City mailing address, for 695 homes, a golf course and a marina to be known as Harbor Ridge.
PALM CITY TODAY
Today, Davi said the community has 23,120 full-time residents and many more seasonal visitors. The Census Bureau supports that estimate.
The Census Bureau also reports that the median per household income in Palm City is $88,412 while the median for the state is $53,425. In 2000, the median income was $62,362 per household and $33,819 for the state.
With access from Florida's Turnpike and Interstate 95, Palm City is the gateway to Martin County for most travelers arriving by automobile. It provides a microcosm of the county with its nurseries, flower farms, pasture and grove lands, industrial parks, golf courses, marinas and trim shopping areas.
"Generations to come will decide where Palm City will be in the next 100 years," Davi said. .
PALM CITY THROUGH THE YEARS
1889: George Beckwith of New York City buys the land that is now Palm City from the federal government but does not develop it.
1896: Harry Dyer homesteads 180 acres in what is now called Dyer's Point and Lighthouse Point.
1911: Palm City has one building, a farmhouse.
1912: Charles C. Chillingworth's Palm Beach County Land Co. buys 12,133 acres from Beckwith, and lays out the plat for Palm City and Palm City Farms, marking the start of Palm City.
1913: Palm Villa Hotel, managed by Mr. and Mrs. Orin Coffrin, opens with 19 rooms at the corner of Palmetto Street and Michigan Avenue. Also, the Palm Beach County Commission approves construction of a bridge across the South Fork of the St. Lucie River to Stuart, replacing the ferry.
1914: Post Office and first store open at Palmetto Street and Cornell Avenue.
1915: Woman's Club is built. Palm Beach County approves a bond issue to build the bridge. Work begins on the St. Lucie Canal from Lake Okeechobee to South Fork of the St. Lucie River.
1916: Heavy rains wash away the dam used in construction of the St. Lucie Canal, causing flooding.
1919: The bridge opens.
1921: Palm City incorporates. Frank Burdick was the first mayor. The cornerstone is laid for the Bible Union Congregational Church, founded by Lucy Ayres. Loop Road and State Road 76 are begun.
1922: Palm City fields a baseball team, the "Swamp Angels."
1925: Martin County is established from parts of Palm Beach and St. Lucie County. George J. Backus brings the cut flower industry to Palm City, growing gladiolus.
1926: The Palm City Chamber of Commerce is formed. Florida Power and Light brings electricity to Palm City, which now has 150 residents. The Gilson Slide Rule Co. locates in Palm City.
1927: The St. Lucie Canal is dedicated.
1928: A hurricane devastates South Florida. The Palm City bridge is closed because of damage.
1937: The Town of Palm City is abolished because of insolvency. Its debt would not be paid off until 1963.
1940: W. J. "Bill" Matheson began Crane Creek Ranch as a beef cattle operation but later switched to dairy cows.
1949: Hurricane does serious damage.
1950: Matheson starts growing roses and becomes the fifth largest grower of cut roses in the U.S.
1951: Martin Grade, now Martin Highway, is improved by the county road department opening land to farms and dairies.
1953: The plat for the Pelican Cove development is approved.
1956: The Palm City Volunteer Fire Department is formed.
1957: The Miss Harris School for Girls is brought from Miami.
1958: Palm City Elementary School opens.
1963: The Sea Gate Harbor plat is approved.
1964: The Lighthouse Point plat is approved.
1970: The wooden Palm City Bridge is replaced by a new bridge.
1971-80: More developments are approved.
1977: Southern Realty buys land for Martin Downs.
1979: Martin Downs Boulevard opens.
1980: The Coalition to Save Palm City is formed to oppose development of Martin Downs but modified plans were approved.
1985: Interstate 95 opens from Martin Highway to Gatlin Boulevard in Port St. Lucie opens. The Village Center at Martin Downs opens.
1991: The new four-lane Palm City Bridge opens.
1994: Plans for the Indian Street Bridge begin.
1997: Indian Street Bridge construction is approved for $22.8 million but was delayed by court challenges.
2011: Construction begins on the Indian Street Bridge, now named Veterans Memorial Bridge.
SOURCES
Information for this article on Palm City's 100 years of history was taken from the following sources:
"History of Palm City, Florida, 1912-1997," compiled by Jean Rappaport and Marge Harrison, 1997.
"Early Palm City" by Rose Walton, undated.
"Martin County: Our Heritage, A Historiography by Caroline Pomeroy Ziemba," 1997.
"The History of Martin County," compiled by Janet Hutchinson and Emaline Paige, Historical Society of Martin County, 1975.
"History of Stuart-Palm City Area and the M&W Site," by ecoimpact, inc.(sic), 1973.
Historical edition of The Stuart News, November 1950.
Archives of The Stuart News 1912 to present.
THE CELEBRATION
The official Palm City Birthday Party, complete with black tie dinner, fireworks and stories of the olden days, takes place at the Floridian community's clubhouse from 6 to 9 p.m. March 16.
Tickets are $200 a person and can be purchased from the chamber of commerce at 880 S.W. Martin Downs Blvd., Palm City, 34990, by calling 772-286-8121 or sending an email to [email protected]. The Floridian is located at 3700 S.E. Floridian Drive, Palm City.
People who cannot get a ticket still will be able to watch the fireworks. The best viewing areas will be along the river north of the Palm City Bridge and from the old Roosevelt Bridge in Stuart.
