St. Lucie County (pop. 277,789) is south of Indian River County. Its population in 1970 was 50,836.
St. Lucie County in 1917
The county seat of St. Lucie County is the city of Fort Pierce (pop. 41,590).
Old Fort Pierce City Hall (1925)
The Heathcote Botanical Gardens in Fort Pierce has the largest public collection of tropical bonsai trees in the U.S.
100 bonsai trees
During World War Two, Fort Pierce was the site of the U.S. Naval Amphibious Training Base.
Navy SEAL Museum
The Moores Creek Bridge (1925) in Port Pierce is known as the “Tickle Tummy Bridge” because of its high arch relative to its short length.
Made of reinforced concrete
The Sunrise Theatre in Fort Pierce (1923) closed for movies in 1983 and reopened as a performing arts center in 2006.
Author Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) spent her final years in Fort Pierce and is buried there.
She was born in Alabama.
The largest city in St. Lucie County is the city of Port St. Lucie (pop. 164,603), which was not founded until the 1960s.
The spring training home of the New York Mets is in Port St. Lucie.
Tradition Field (1988)
The master-planned community of Tradition, established in 2002, is within the city limits of Port St. Lucie.
Avalon State Park is on North Hutchinson Island, north of Fort Pierce.
NEXT: MARTIN COUNTY
Every County 