The story in brief
The area gained national prominence and its first wave of tourism after attracting elite visitors like President Grover Cleveland, which paved the way for its eventual reputation as the sailfish capital of the world.
About this story
Ultimately, this rich chronicle celebrates how a quiet coastal outpost blossomed into a vibrant municipality enriched by presidential visits, economic evolution, and a touch of Hollywood glamour.
Full transcript
next stop hot damn South Florida was sparsely inhabited before Henry flagler's Railway opened up the Territory between 1894 and 1896. travel had mainly been by sailboat along the Indian and St Lucie Rivers earlier the U.S government built 10 houses of refuge along Florida's East Coast Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge as of December 1876 was the home of…
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next stop hot damn South Florida was sparsely inhabited before Henry flagler's Railway opened up the Territory between 1894 and 1896. travel had mainly been by sailboat along the Indian and St Lucie Rivers earlier the U.S government built 10 houses of refuge along Florida's East Coast Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge as of December 1876 was the home of a first non-indian residence the keepers of the St Lucie River Region flagler's East Coast Railway in 1894 then called the Jacksonville St Augustine and Indian River Railway changed the face of South Florida forever originally named Potsdam by German settlers in 1892. the first train rolled across the St Lucie River in May of 1894. when flagler's train started
making flag stops to Potsdam many of the passengers took offense to the name because of the word damn as in Potts Dam when the post office changed locations so did the name in 1895 the name was officially changed to Stuart in honor of Homer Hein Stewart Jr a local Pioneer landowner during that time the Region's main Agricultural Product was pineapples local pineapple production reached its peak in 1907 but the industry diminished due to competition with Cuban grown fruit in 1913 East Stewart was planted which gave the community an official place on the city map Stewart was incorporated on May 7 1914 an official town in Palm Beach County at the same time the Great War
began to tear apart Europe When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again in the 1920s all of America was roaring and so was Stuart Florida pineapple fields gave way to Real Estate Investors with new residences businesses buildings and even a new theater Stewart was on its way to being a real town it wasn't until May 1925 that Martin County broke away from Palm Beach and St Lucie counties the Stuart Commercial Club Forerunner of the Stewart Chamber of Commerce championed this initiative Stuart Mayer Stanley kitchen John E Taylor and JB McDonald Stewart's first mayor were part of a delegation that traveled to Tallahassee to lobby for the new County after much deliberation and a lot of lobbying Martin
County was created and named after Florida Governor John Welborn Martin Stewart became the county seat something that the city enjoys to this very day coincidentally 100 years years later the mayor of Stuart is also named McDonald mayor Troy a McDonald following this period of growth the very Park in which you sit Flagler Park was created in 1928 86 years ago Stewart's Roosevelt Bridge came out of that effort in 1934 and helped many Floridians secure work during those historically hard times as a result of former president Grover Cleveland's fishing Expeditions in the early 1900s he and his wife fell in love with the town and purchased the land where City Hall stands today president Cleveland's fishing
buddy was Joe Jefferson who was a famous actor of the day together they put Stuart on the map and the region became known as the fishing ground of presidents whether by Design or accident that attention was Stewart's first tourism development campaign in 1941 the Stuart Sailfish Club was chartered to officially attract tourists by holding sport fishing tournaments in the region soon the town was officially known as the sailfish capital of the world the 30s 40s and 50s brought our area even more Fame in the 30s when band leader Glenn Miller created swing music Hollywood actress and singer Francis Langford married actor John Hall in 1948 they donated 20 acres of land near her estate in
Jensen Beach to Martin County who named it Langford Hall Park located on Northeast Dixie Highway just south of the Stuart Jensen Arch today it's known as Langford Park and is one of the Region's major parks in 1954 she appeared in The Glenn Miller Story singing one of his famous songs Chattanooga Choo Choo with his movie Orchestra so you can see the early years of Stuart had a rich history that includes trains presidents pineapples sailfish and even a few Hollywood stars now Muse art Productions and Treasure Coast multimedia in partnership with Stuart Heritage proudly presents solid Golds dancing through the decades show they'll take you on a musical Journey from the days of sock hops to
today's modern hip-hop enjoy the show foreign
