Ocean Breeze, Florida

Town of Ocean Breeze, Florida
Town
Location in Martin County and the state of Florida
Coordinates: 27°14′26″N 80°13′28″W / 27.24056°N 80.22444°W / 27.24056; -80.22444Coordinates: 27°14′26″N 80°13′28″W / 27.24056°N 80.22444°W / 27.24056; -80.22444
Country	United States
State	Florida
County	Martin
Founded	1938
Incorporated	1960
Government
• Type	Town
• Mayor	David Myers[1]
Area
• Total	0.2 sq mi (0.5 km2)
• Land	0.2 sq mi (0.4 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation	7 ft (2 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	463
• Density	2,315/sq mi (926/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
FIPS code	12-50900[2]
GNIS feature ID	0288033[3]

Ocean Breeze, formerly Ocean Breeze Park, is a town on the Indian River in Martin County, Florida, United States. It and Briny Breezes in Palm Beach County are the only two towns in Florida in which all residents live in a mobile home park bearing the name of the town. The population was 463 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 459. The population figures do not include the many part-time winter residents from other places. The town is an enclave within the census-designated place of Jensen Beach

The Town of Ocean Breeze is part of the Port St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Martin and St. Lucie counties.

History

Welcome marker on northern town limits on Indian River Drive

Ocean Breeze Trailer Park was established in 1938 in Stuart, Florida by Harry Hoke.^[4]

The Ocean Breeze Park town government was formed in 1960 when 142 property owners in Ocean Breeze Trailer Park voted to incorporate. Harry Hoke was elected as the town's first mayor. Gene Hoke, Jeri Hoke, Jack McNab, Leo Williams, John Corliss, and Luther Weeks were elected to the Board of Aldermen. Alice Hoke was named town clerk, Dick Hoke was named first Marshall, and Evans Crary, Sr., who guided the town through the legal procedure of incorporation, was appointed town attorney. At the time of its incorporation, the 65-acre park was said to be the largest privately owned trailer park in the United States.^[4] As of 2013, the town has dropped the 'Park' and is known simply as Ocean Breeze.^[5]

Dorothy Geeben, was mayor from 2001 to 2011. When she was re-elected in 2004 at age 96, the national media dubbed her the nation's oldest living mayor.^[6] Mayor Geeben died on January 11, 2010 at the age of 101 just short of her 102nd birthday.^[7]

Mayors

• Harry Hoke (1960–1972)
• Gene Hoke (1973–1989)
• Ruth Hoke (1989–2001)
• Dorothy Geeben (2001–2010)
• David W. Myers (2010–present)

Main areas in town

A typical moblie home in Ocean Breeze

The town consists of three sections:

• 1.A large mobile home park called Ocean Breeze, where all of the town's residents live. It is located east of the FEC tracks, a block or so south of Jensen Beach Boulevard and west of the Indian River. The mobile home park consists of three major areas:
• A.The small waterfront area lying east of Indian River Drive;
• B.The modern addition area lying north of Key Lime Drive; and
• C.The large original park area lying South of Key Lime Drive with smaller lots, older homes, narrower streets and more residents than the other two;

• 2.A large shopping center called Ocean Breeze Plaza, which is anchored by a Publix super market and is located on the south side of Jensen Beach Boulevard just west of the FEC tracks; and

• 3.A large undeveloped area of high sugar sand dunes lying west of the FEC tracks and south of the shopping center.

All roads within the town are private except for Ocean Breeze Drive which runs east-west and Indian River Drive, CR 707, which runs north-south. The residents of the town are among the few in the area who still receive mail delivered to their front doors instead of curbside. The town is served by the Jensen Beach post office (ZIP 34957).

Geography

The riverside portion of the town from the north

Ocean Breeze is located at 27°14′26″N 80°13′28″W / 27.240532°N 80.224358°W / 27.240532; -80.224358.^[8]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.2 square miles (0.52 km²), of which 0.2 square miles (0.52 km²) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km²) (19.05%) is water.

The Town of Ocean Breeze is bounded on the east by the Indian River and on the south, west and north by the unincorporated community of Jensen Beach. Since the Town of Ocean Breeze does not have its own post office, its mailing address is Jensen Beach, Florida.

Demographics

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 463 people, 335 households, and 107 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,706.5 people per square mile (1,051.6/km²). There were 579 housing units at an average density of 3,384.6 per square mile (1,315.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.49% White, 1.08% African American, and 0.43% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.08% of the population.

There were 335 households out of which 0.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.9% were married couples living together, 4.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 67.8% were non-families. 63.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 43.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.38 and the average family size was 2.05.

In the town the population was spread out with 0.2% under the age of 18, 0.4% from 18 to 24, 5.4% from 25 to 44, 27.4% from 45 to 64, and 66.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 70 years. For every 100 females there were 83.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.3 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $15,709, and the median income for a family was $27,813. Males had a median income of $17,083 versus $25,208 for females. The per capita income for the town was $19,802, which ranks it 418 out of 887 towns in Florida.^[11] About 14.6% of families and 15.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 12.7% of those age 65 or over.

References

Municipalities and communities of Martin County, Florida, United States County seat: Stuart City Stuart Towns Jupiter Island Ocean Breeze Sewall's Point CDPs Hobe Sound Indiantown Jensen Beach North River Shores Palm City Port Salerno Rio Unincorporated community Port Mayaca

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