| Vero Beach, Florida | |
|---|---|
| — City — | |
| Nickname(s): Hibiscus City | |
| Location in Indian River County and the state of Florida | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Florida |
| County | Indian River |
| Settled | 1870 |
| Incorporated (Vero) | 1919 |
| Incorporated (Vero Beach) | 1925 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Commission-Manager |
| • Mayor | Jay Kramer |
| • City Manager | James M. Gabbard |
| Area[1] | |
| • City | 12.93 sq mi (33.5 km2) |
| • Land | 11.07 sq mi (28.7 km2) |
| • Water | 1.85 sq mi (4.8 km2) 14.31% |
| Elevation | 13 ft (4 m) |
| Population (July 1, 2006)[2] | |
| • City | 16,939 |
| • Metro | 130,100 |
| Census Bureau estimate | |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP codes | 32960-32969 |
| Area code(s) | 772 |
| FIPS code | 12-74150[3] |
| GNIS feature ID | 0292760[4] |
| Website | http://www.covb.org |
Vero Beach is a city in Indian River County, Florida, USA. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 estimates, the city had a population of 16,939.[2] It is the county seat of Indian River County.[5] Vero Beach is a Principal City of the Sebastian–Vero Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is home to 130,100 people.[6]
Vero Beach is the location of Holman Stadium, where the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team held their spring training camp from 1948 until 2008 when it moved to a new facility in Glendale, Arizona. The stadium was also the home to the minor league Vero Beach Devil Rays; however, in August 2008 the franchise was sold to the Ripken Baseball Group and did not return to Vero Beach for the 2009 season. In 2009, Holman Stadium was leased to Minor League Baseball, and there is no word yet if a new team will make it its home.
Piper Aircraft Inc. builds aircraft here. Major industries include citrus fruit packing and tourism.
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Vero Beach is located at (27.641817, −80.391105)[7]. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.93 square miles (33.5 km2), of which 11.07 square miles (28.7 km2) is land and 1.85 square miles (4.8 km2) (14.31%) is water.
The city is divided by the Indian River Lagoon into the mainland on one side and Orchid Island, the oceanfront barrier island on the other. The island's population consists of a wide variety of incomes, including many second home owners and those living in upscale gated communities. Restrictive zoning has allowed the island to repel attempts to develop high-rise hotels and large commercial centers, so it maintains a quiet, residential atmosphere.
According to the World Almanac and Book of Facts, Vero Beach is at the eastern end of a demarcation line that separates Florida's climate into two zones: To the north, a humid subtropical climate and, to the south, a tropical climate. From Vero Beach, this line stretches straight across the state, with Bradenton on the western end of the demarcation line.
| Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures | ||||||||||||
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rec High °F | 88 | 89 | 93 | 94 | 99 | 102 | 99 | 98 | 98 | 96 | 94 | 94 |
| Norm High °F | 73.3 | 74.1 | 77.6 | 81.4 | 85.2 | 89 | 90.4 | 90.2 | 88.7 | 84.3 | 79.1 | 74.7 |
| Norm Low °F | 52.7 | 53.6 | 57.8 | 61.6 | 67.2 | 71.8 | 73 | 72.9 | 72.7 | 68.5 | 61.9 | 54.7 |
| Rec Low °F | 21 | 28 | 32 | 40 | 47 | 57 | 67 | 64 | 64 | 46 | 36 | 23 |
| Precip (in) | 2.89 | 2.45 | 4.2 | 2.88 | 3.8 | 6.03 | 6.53 | 6.04 | 6.84 | 5.04 | 3.04 | 2.19 |
| Source: USTravelWeather.com [1] | ||||||||||||
Hurricane Frances was the sixth named storm, the fourth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. The system crossing the open Atlantic during mid to late August, moving to the north of the Lesser Antilles while strengthening. Its outer bands affected Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands while passing north of the Caribbean sea. The storm's maximum sustained wind speeds peaked at 145 miles (233 km) per hour (233 km/h), achieving Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. As the system slowed down its forward motion, the eye passed over San Salvador Island and very close to Cat Island in the Bahamas. Frances was the first hurricane to impact the entire Bahamian archipelago since 1866, and led to the nearly complete destruction of their agricultural economy.
Frances then passed over the central sections of the state of Florida in the U.S. only three weeks after Hurricane Charley, causing significant damage to the state's citrus crop, closing schools and canceling a football game. The storm then moved briefly offshore Florida into the northeast Gulf of Mexico and made a second U.S. landfall at the Florida Panhandle before accelerating northeast through the eastern United States near the Appalachians into Atlantic Canada while weakening. A significant tornado outbreak accompanied the storm across the eastern United States, nearly equaling the outbreak from Hurricane Beulah. Very heavy rains fell in association with this slow moving and relatively large hurricane, which led to floods in Florida and North Carolina. A total of 49 lives were lost from the cyclone. Damages totaled US$12 billion (2004 dollars).
As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 17,705 people, 8,516 households, and 4,777 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,598.9 per square mile (617.5/km²). There were 10,286 housing units at an average density of 928.9 per square mile (358.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 92.73% White, 3.42% African American, 0.20% Native American, 1.24% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.40% from other races, and 0.99% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.79% of the population.
There were 8,516 households out of which 17.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.4% were married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.9% were non-families. 36.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.02 and the average family size was 2.59.
In the city the population was spread out with 16.0% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 23.6% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 29.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $38,427, and the median income for a family was $50,260. Males had a median income of $31,217 versus $24,022 for females. The per capita income for the city was $30,940. About 6.4% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.6% of those under age 18 and 4.5% of those age 65 or over.
Vero Beach Municipal Airport is located one mile (1.6 km) northwest of the one central business district.
John F. Kennedy Jr. received his flight certification at Vero Beach Municipal Airport and spent much of his leisure time in the oceanside resort town.[8]
GoLine Indian River Transit is a free (donation boxes are in each bus if you like) bus system that spreads all over the Vero Beach area.
The Florida East Coast Railway mainline bisects Vero Beach. The old passenger depot was relocated next to the trackage to its current location, though there is no regularly scheduled passenger service to Vero Beach at present, but serves as a museum. FEC serves a local lumber/building materials customer in Vero Beach itself that receives boxcars and flatcars, and a sand/aggregate customer just to the north of Vero that receives hopper cars, including FEC's signature Ortner aggregate hoppers. These are visible to railfans when they travel on the roadway that parallels the FEC right-of-way. Most FEC trains, and NS run-throughs with trackage rights, pass through Vero under cover of darkness. FEC is fully CTC, and extremely well maintained. Indeed, employment with FEC is one of the most coveted railroad industry jobs in the South-east United States. Just to the north of Vero, in the vicinity of the sand/aggregate customer, the now-disconnected spurs that once served citrus-packing companies in the area can be seen. These companies now ship their product by truck. It is unknown, at present, if FEC intends to try to recapture this business by reconnecting the various spurs and offering regular local service that can move the product to market faster.
Vero Beach is home to general aviation manufacturer Piper Aircraft [2], which is the largest private employer in Indian River County but has recently been firing many of their employees. Aside from Piper, the bulk of commercial activity in Vero Beach centers around tourism, particularly in the high season months of December through April; the citrus industry (Vero Beach is well-known for Indian River Grapefruit); and professional and service activities, particularly those catering the area's large senior citizen population.
The beaches in Vero Beach are part of Florida's Treasure Coast. Vero's main public beach is known as South Beach, accessible at the eastern end of Causeway Boulevard, State Road 656. It is a very large, guarded beach that is used for sports. There are two volleyball courts and space to play other sports. There are two pavilions with barbecues and a bathroom with vending machines.
Another public beach is Humiston Park, in Vero's Central Beach Business District. Humiston is a guarded beach. It has a playground and boardwalk.
Jaycee Park is adjacent to Conn Beach which is guarded and has a boardwalk extending southward approximately 2/3 of a mile along Ocean Drive. Jaycee Park has about fifteen pavilions, all with barbecues. It has a small playground and a long boardwalk.
The unguarded beach between Conn and Humiston is frequently used by skim boarders, fishermen, and occasionally by surf boarders although the surf is rarely high enough for extensive surfing.
Vero Beach also has other public access trails and walkways with beach access.
The Indian River Lagoon, passing through Vero Beach, forms a significant portion of the Intracoastal Waterway, and is a hub for boating, fishing, water skiing, and other small-craft waterborne activities. Sheltered from the open ocean, the Indian River area of Vero has a number of public and private marinas and boat launch facilities.
Vero Beach is home to the seventh largest (face-to-face) bridge club in North America, The Vero Beach Duplicate Bridge Club. People often move to Vero Beach to play Bridge as games are available daily, not only at the Vero Beach Bridge Center but in numerous other clubs in the area.
Disney's Vero Beach Resort is located in Vero Beach.
1870 – Captain Allen W. Estes established the first homestead on the Indian River near Bethel Creek. He was known as the "old hermit of Bethel Creek."
1891 – Henry T. Gifford applied to build a post office in the area. Folklore states that his wife Sarah gave the name of Vero, which in Latin means "in truth."
1893 – Henry Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway began operation through the area, allowing fishermen and small fruit and vegetable growers to ship their products to the north.
1903 – After Henry Flagler opened access to south Florida with his railway, the small community of Vero built their first railway station.
1911 – Herman Zeuch, born in Iowa in 1867, purchased 55,000 acres (220 km2) of land for growing citrus after twelve trips to Florida and three years of planning. After this purchase, Zeuch began draining the land for development.
1912 – Zeuch formed the Indian River Farms Co. and hired a civil engineer from Iowa, William H. Kimball, to continue draining the land. Zeuch and his assistant, Col. R. D. Carter laid out a town site and built the town of Vero over the next few years. Originally, the streets were given names from places in Iowa and Illinois such as Des Moines and Davenport. Within a year, they changed their minds and named the streets after Native Americans.
1915 – Human bones were discovered near Vero Beach in association with pleistocene animal bones.
1919 – Vero Beach became chartered as an official town. Also during this year, Paul Nisle, a local pioneer started the first newspaper and called it the Vero Press.
1920 – The second bridge across the "Indian River Lagoon" was built at Vero. (First was in Cocoa, Brevard County.) This connected for the first time the barrier island with the main land. There already was established a hotel (1917) and the Riomar settlement of people from Ohio.
1924 – The Vero Theatre opens as the city's first mostion picture theater.
1925 – Until this time Vero was part of St. Lucie County. A local group of Vero Beach citizens desired to form a new county separate of St. Lucie County. In May, Indian River County was formed, and Vero Beach became the county seat. Vero’s name was officially changed to "Vero Beach" in 1925.
1926 – A large Electrical Power Plant was built on the south side of 19th Pl., between 12th Ct. and the railroad tracks.
1927 – The Vero Beach Journal purchased the Vero Press, becoming the Vero Beach Press Journal, produced by the Schumann family.
1942 – During World War II, the U.S. Navy purchased 1,500 acres (6.1 km2) surrounding the Vero Beach Municipal Airport as the site for a Naval Air Station. The base was formally commissioned November 1942.
1948 – Major League Baseball came to Vero Beach when local businessman, Bud Holman, invited the Brooklyn Dodgers' to take over an unused Naval air station following World War II. The Dodgers fancied the area, thus Dodgertown was born as their winter training grounds.
1957 – Piper Aircraft began research and development in Vero Beach which was built on part of the grounds of the former naval air station.
1958 – The Vero Beach Theatre Guild is formed.[9]
1961 – Piper Aircraft moved its administrative and manufacturing operations here after completing building additions.
1966 – The Vero Beach Concert Association begins presenting concerts.[10]
1967 – Piper expanded its facility to 11 acres (45,000 m2) and its work force to over 2,000 employees.
1965 – In February, the A1A bridge over the Sebastian Inlet was opened connecting the barrier islands.
1974 – Riverside Theatre opens.
1977 – A significant amount of snow fell in Vero Beach, actually blanketing the ground.
1986 – The Vero Beach Museum of Art opens.
1996 – In November, the Indian River Mall opened.
2001 – Vero Beach made national headlines as FBI agents moved into the area following 9/11 when some of the terrorists involved in the attacks were reported to have been trained at FlightSafety International, located at the Vero Beach Municipal Airport.
2009 – The Brackett Library opens at Indian River State College's Mueller Campus.
2009 – On June 22, an all-time record high of 102 degrees was set for Vero Beach.
List of the number of crimes committed since 2000
Built in 1973 on a 54-acre (220,000 m2) tract of land designated by the city of Vero Beach as a cultural, Riverside Theatre was erected with $1.5 million raised solely from private donations. In its first few years of existence, the Riverside Theatre served primarily as the home to the Vero Beach Theatre Guild, the local community group, and occasional bus & truck tours. In 1980, the Riverside Children Theatre added education and programming for children to these activities, though it wasn't until 1985, with the hiring of a full-time education director that classes and productions starring local children truly began. In 1983. the Friends of Riverside Theatre, a fundraising group, started the Celebrity Series with an appearance by Ray Charles, and this series, and appearances by celebrities, became an integral part of the Theatre's programming.
As Riverside grew, so did its facilities. In 1986, a rehearsal hall was added to the west of the Theatre proper. In 1991, the Agnes Wahstrom Youth Playhouse became the home of Riverside Children's Theatre and additional funds helped break ground for a scene shop adjacent to the northeast corner of the main Theatre building. In 1998, the Anne Morton Theatre, Riverside's second stage opened. Built primarily as the home RCT productions. the AMT also serves as the site for Riverside 2, the Acting Company's second stage series, and the Actors' Cabaret. In 1999, still more construction renovated the backstage areas and original dressing rooms and moved all the administrative offices out the Theatre and into the Leonhardt Administration Wing.
All these additions pale however in comparison with what's to come. In 1999, a Long Range Facilities Planning Committee surveyed staff, patrons and the Board as the theatre's long term facility needs. This survey found that renovation of the audience chamber and the addition of a lobby were the primary concerns of the Riverside faithful. In the summer of 1999, architects were hired to address these concerns. Feasibility studies, three different schematic designs, and fundraising ensued.
On September 1, 2005, a building permit for the new Riverside Theatre was granted. The new building opened on schedule in March, 2007, with a permanent home for the Second Stage, a renovated lobby and mainstage audience chamber.
public · 9–12 · 2000 students 1707 16th St Vero Beach, FL 32960 (772) 564-4620 District: Indian River County Public Schools
charter · 9–12 · 700 students 6055 College Lane Vero Beach, FL 32966 (772) 567-6600 District: Indian River County Public Schools
private · PK-12 · 876 students 1895 Saint Edwards Dr Vero Beach, FL 32963 (772) 231-4136
public · 5–12 · 32 students 4680 28th Court Vero Beach, FL 32967 (772) 564-6240 District: Indian River County Public Schools
private · 8–12 · 31 students 801 154th Ave Vero Beach, FL 32966 (772) 978–4164
private · PK-12 · 291 students 1105 58th Ave Vero Beach, FL 32966 (772) 794-4655
private · K-12 · 46 students 51 Old Dixie Hwy Vero Beach, FL 32962 (772) 562-0723
6155 College Lane Vero Beach, FL (772) 569-0333 http://www.irsc.edu/
Thanks to its location on Florida's "Treasure Coast," Vero Beach is a retirement hot spot. It was rated three times as a top ten city. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean, so the water is warmed by the Gulf Stream. Vero Beach has an average of 74 degree weather. This a major reason as to why Vero Beach retirement can be so relaxing and beneficial.
Retirement Benefits
Retirement Housing
The median home price of a single-family home in 2006 was approximately $235,000.
There are also many retirement communities with a host of amenities, including:
The Isles of Vero Beach, one of many communities, combines the advantages of an independent lifestyle with congregate living. A minimum monthly price of $2,225 includes main meal and snacks, entertainment, pools, services, activities, accessible medical assistance, and home options ranging from private rooms to two-bedroom apartments.
ACTS Retirement-Life Communities, Inc. maintains two properties in Vero Beach: Indian River Estates East and West. At these CARF-CCAC accredited life care communities, occupants pay an entrance fee to cover access to medical services plus a monthly housing fee, based on the type of unit and number of occupants. Units vary from studio apartments to three-bedroom, two bath villas. Main meals, snacks, pools, services, entertainment, and other amenities are just a few of the options.
Vero Beach was the site of a major archaeological discovery in 1915. Starting in 1913 vertebrate fossils were uncovered during the construction of a drainage canal from the Indian River westward, between Vero Beach and Gifford. Samples of the fossils were sent by Isaac M. Weills and Frank Ayers to the state geologist of Florida, Dr. E. H. Sellards, who recognized the finds as Pleistocene animals and asked the two men to watch out for human remains. In 1915 fossilized human bones from at least five individuals were found in the banks of the canal. One skeleton, consisting of 44 bones, became known as 'Vero Man'. As some of the human fossils and stone tool artifacts (including an incised Proboscidean tusk) appeared to be associated with the fossils of Pleistocene animals, the find created an international controversy over whether it provided the first evidence that human beings had inhabited the 'new world' prior to the end of the Wisconsin glaciation (c. 10,000 BCE). Half of the experts who examined the material concluded that humans coexisted with Pleistocene animals at the Vero site, and the other half concluded that any human remains or artifacts associated with Pleistocene fossils had been intruded from more recent deposits by intentional burial or by natural processes. Because the dates to which Pleistocene animals survived and the development of material cultures (tool styles) in North America were poorly understood at time, because there was no way to date archaeological finds at the time other than by comparison with similar finds from a known sequence, and because the idea that humans had been in America before Pleistocene animals had died out was considered very unlikely, the skeptics won out. Over the next thirty years, the remains were shuffled back and forth between the Smithsonian Institution and the Florida State Museum of History in Tallahassee. Experts could never reach an agreement and the remains were eventually lost just prior to the invention of Carbon-14 dating in 1947. Interest in Vero Man gradually waned, though more recently there was some renewed interest in finding the remains.[18][19]
In 2009 scientists announced the discovery of a carving of a mammoth or mastodon on a piece of bone found north of Vero Beach (the general area in which Vero Man was found). Testing results announced in 2011 support the authenticity of the carving. Despite news accounts at the time saying that the carving was 13,000 to 20,000 years old, the bone and carving could not be dated. The anatomical correctness of the carving and the heavy mineralization of the bone do indicate that the carving was made while mammoths and/or mastodons still lived in the area, indicating that humans did live in the area contemporaneous with Pleistocene animals. The carving may be the oldest art found in the Americas. Scientists studying the carving noted similarities with Pleistocene art in Europe.[20][21]
Similar human remains, Pleistocene animals and Paleo-Indian artefacts were found in Melbourne, 30 miles (48 km) to the north of Vero Beach, and similar Paleo-Indian artefacts were found at Helen Blazes, ten miles (16 km) to the southwest of Melbourne.
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