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MIMS NRHP Registration Form
<br /> Jungle Trail
<br /> Indian River County, Florida
<br /> Page 7
<br /> NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
<br /> CONTINUATION SHEET
<br /> Section 8 Page 1
<br /> Narrative Summary of Significance
<br /> Summary
<br /> The Indian River region, like most parts of southern Florida, was not permanently settled until the late nineteenth
<br /> century. Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway through the area aided in settlement of the mainland side of the
<br /> Indian River lagoon, but the barrier island, known as Orchid Island, saw little in the way of settlement or development.
<br /> Early citrus groves on the island survived the damaging freezes of the 1890s, which attracted attention to the incipient
<br /> Indian River citrus industry. In 1920, the St. Lucie County commission authorized the construction of a public road on the
<br /> barrier island, extending from Vero Beach to the county line. The county road incorporated earlier roads, like the Orchid-
<br /> Narrows Road, as well as trails and grove roads. The road was built in order to encourage settlement on the island and
<br /> aid in transportation of the valuable citrus crop. When Indian River County was formed from the northern part of St. Lucie
<br /> County in 1925, construction on the road was still underway, though by 1930 several bridges provided connections to the
<br /> mainland. The 14-mile long county road was designated as State Road 252 in the 1930s by the State Legislature. The
<br /> road provided citrus growers with access to mainland docks, packing houses, and the railway. Research and promotional
<br /> developments by island citrus growers made Indian River citrus well known and allowed growers to command higher
<br /> prices for their fruit. By 1939 the state road also was known as the Jungle Trail, a name leant by George Dales'Jungle
<br /> Treasure House gift shop. After World War II the Jungle Trail became part of the original alignment for State Road A-1-A.
<br /> The Jungle Trail became a popular scenic route for tourists in the 1940s visiting the Jungle Treasure House and citrus
<br /> groves on the barrier island. The desirable climate and tropical vegetation that first attracted citrus growers, then tourists,
<br /> ultimately brought land developers. Soon a new, paved State Road A-1-A ran through the island and the southern portion
<br /> of the Jungle Trail was consumed by developments in Indian River Shores. The northern portion of the trail, occasionally
<br /> threatened by development, was preserved by interested citizens and Indian River County as an example of the early days
<br /> on Orchid Island. Jungle Trail is significant at the local level under Criterion A in the area of Entertainment/Recreation for
<br /> its role in-mid-twentieth century tourism in the Vero Beach area. The Jungle Trail represents a short but important period
<br /> in the recent history of Vero Beach and Florida's Atlantic Coast: the transition from the agricultural endeavors of the citrus
<br /> industry to the rise of extensive developments that radically changed the local natural and cultural landscape. Jungle Trail
<br /> began as a county road, designed to speed the movement of citrus to mainland packing houses. Like the citrus industry,
<br /> the road became part of the Vero Beach tourist scene in the 1930s and 1940s, and is part of a broader tradition of tourist
<br /> promotion that emphasized the tropical and natural qualities of Florida. Tourism to the area was quickly supplanted by
<br /> residential development, which eliminated many earlier historic buildings and roadside attractions. The surviving portion of
<br /> the Jungle Trail is representative of the features that attracted tourists and ultimately developers to the Vero Beach area.
<br /> Contributing to the significance of the Jungle Trail are a 30 ft wide buffer on either side of the road bed, preserving portions
<br /> of the original Australian pine windbreak, citrus trees, and tropical maritime hammock vegetation; a meandering, unpaved
<br /> road bed; variations in width from 15 to 27 feet; adherence to the original alignment of the road, as it was built, except for
<br /> one 0.5-mile stretch.
<br /> Historic Context
<br /> Early Settlement of the Indian River Narrows Area
<br /> Indian River County, encompassing 321,920 acres, with a contemporary population of 116,488, is a relatively
<br /> young Florida county,formed in 1925 from the northern part of St. Lucie County(Johnston 2000:14; Miley 1980:90, 100).
<br /> Prior to this division, the area had been included in St. Johns County(1821-1824), Mosquito County(1824-1844), Santa
<br /> Lucia County(1844-1855), Brevard County(1855-1905), and St. Lucie County(1905). The Indian River area and its
<br /> barrier island were largely unpopulated in the early nineteenth century. Anglo-Indian hostility, culminating in the Second
<br /> Seminole War(1835 to 1842), retarded expansion of settlement in the area.
<br /> To encourage settlement along the eastern Florida coast, the federal government enacted the Armed Occupation
<br /> Act of 1842. Tracts of 160 acres were granted to heads of households, who were required to occupy and improve their
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