Indian River County Narrative
- County Narrative
- History
According to the territorial census, the flow of settlers began about the mid 1840s, and by the end of the century, new communities such as Sebastian, Wabasso, Gifford and Roseland had already been established. The greatest impetus to growth during these years can be traced to two events. The first was the creation of Henry Flagler’s Florida’s East Coast Railroad (FEC) which began service through Indian River County in 1893. It provided fishermen and growers of citrus and vegetable products with the fastest shipping possible to the northern markets. A spur of the railroad was built linking Fellsmere to the main track in Sebastian.
The next development which impacted growth was the creation of Drainage Districts in 1905 which were part of the state sponsored Land Reclamation Program. The Drainage Districts, as their name stated, would drain millions of acres of wetlands turning these uninhabitable areas into highly productive real estate. Two of the largest privately funded companies were in Indian River County – The Fellsmere Farm Company founded in 1910, and the Indian River Farms Company founded in 1912. Forefront among the industries born in that time was Indian River citrus; Alf B. Michael established Orchid Island Growers which set the standards for citrus production making Indian River County citrus the leader in the industry.
On the urbanization end, Vero began to grow. The town was laid out in 1914, and during the next 15 years, nearly four hundred miles of canals would be surveyed and dredged, and roads would be built. The population growth and the emergence of urbanization encouraged Vero and other communities in the area to incorporate. As the era ended, the railroad offered a faster mode of travel and broadened the markets for citrus and produce. It also opened up venues for passenger travel. The drainage district program created better agricultural lands and industries.
The end of the WWII found a climate for tremendous business growth. Advances in technology created new markets for citrus. A product created for war time, frozen orange juice concentrate, would revolutionize the citrus industry. Tourism returned to dominate the economy and life in postwar Vero Beach and Indian River County. Indian River cattle ranching which had its roots in the early part of the century came of age during the post war years as cattle shared the land with oranges and grapefruit.One of the highlights of the post-war era came in 1948 when the Brooklyn Dodgers selected Vero Beach as their spring training site. A 109-acre tract, part of the naval air station, was developed into a complex of practice fields, dining, housing and training facilities. The dedication ceremonyfor Dodgertown was held in March of 1948.
In the fifties agriculture and cattle ranching came into its own. Housing flourished both on the mainland and barrier islands. Schools and churches were developed. Recreational areas and parks began to show up all over the county. New bridges were built across the Indian River Lagoon. However, the biggest contributors to growthwere – mosquito control efforts by the government and the adapting of air conditioning for residential use.
In 1957 Piper Aircraft arrived. Vero Beach was selected for their research and development center which was built on the grounds of the former naval air station. In 1961, Piper moved its administrative and manufacturing operations from Pennsylvania when a 150,000 square foot addition was completed. By 1967, Piper had expanded its facility to eleven acres and its work force to over 2,000 employees.
- Involvement with County Government
Extension is considered a Division under the General Services Department. We are housed in a separate building from the rest of IRC administration along with Youth Guidance, Soil & Water Conservation and Housing. All of these agencies receive external funding to maintain and or support their programs. The Extension Director reports to the Director of General Services and there is little interaction with the county administrator and or BOCC. This has had its advantages and disadvantages. In August 2010 the director of General Services will retire and there have been un-official talks that the department will close down and the divisions will be re-assigned to other departments. There is no word as to which department extension will be transferred to. Extension works closely with other departments within the BOCC with regard to public safety (i.e., emergency services and Africanized Honey Bees, health department and filth-breeding insects, mosquito-borne illnesses, etc).
- Current trends and issues
The issues in IRC are probably similar to those in other counties; decreased property values, incomplete housing developments, foreclosures, higher than normal unemployment, etc. IRC has another difficult situation in that employment is limited to service positions, agriculture, light industry; golf course and lawn are maintenance and construction with little technological growth. There is a branch of the regional state college but this does not offer much in the way of job or career opportunities that would support the majority of youth graduating from high school or people being laid off from other positions.
Environmental issues are at the forefront due to the proximity of the Indian River Lagoon and the benefits that are enjoyed by the community and tourists.
With the increasing difficulty of growing citrus due to a number of pests and diseases many agriculturists are looking for something that will help them maintain their quality of life. Unfortunately, a solution has not been found yet and a continuing decline in agricultural acreage is expected over the next decade.
- Client descriptions
IRC was mainly known for being a sleepy retirement community and there is a large population (25%) over the age of 65 living here. With the housing boom a few years ago, many people moved up from south Florida and there was a sharp increase in families with children. With the falling market there has been an increase in foreclosures and people moving out of the area. This really has not affected the 4-H program whose main participants are the children of children that were in the program when they were young (club activities). There has been an effort to increase the number of school-related programs such as Tropicana and that is successful as long as it does not interfere with the teaching and testing curriculum.
There is also a growing Hispanic population that has been relatively invisible except in the Fellsmere area. Many people still believe that they are a transient group but statistics show that they are 10% of the total population in IRC and destine to increase over time.
African Americans have long been a cultural flavor for IRC but in the last decade or so they have been increasingly marginalized although they make up approximately 9% of the population. Programs geared to help both Hispanics and African Americans be successful in IRC have been cut drastically over the last 3 years and this disappointing trend will probably not change dramatically for a few more years.
- Major program areas
- 4-H – Adam Cletzer
- Agriculture – Christine Kelly-Begazo
- Master Gardener Coordination – Christine Kelly-Begazo
- Collaborations with other organizations
Extension is an organization of collaboration and IRC extension is no exception. With every agent, programmatic focus and activity there is counter-organizations and businesses that cooperate on a daily basis to help reach clientele improve their quality of life with the solutions that UF/IFAS offers. Even if the office does not have a specific agent, all staff are instructed to point clientele in the right direction for the information that they are looking for. With such a small staff it would be impossible to meet our mission statement if it were not for the partnerships and collaborations that have been forged over the years with each agent. Each agent can present the review committee with a list of their partnerships if desired.