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USDUNPS NRHP Registration Form Jungle Trail Indian River County, Florida Page 9 2000:32-33). North of the Enos settlement was the still extant Jones Pier, where dockage attracted winter visitors who NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Section 8 Page 3 (Narrative Summary of Significance, Continued) sailed down the Indian River in their boats and schooners. George Dales and his wife were two such visitors, who after visiting for a number of winters in their sloop settled in the area in the 1930s and opened a gift shop called Jungle Treasure House. The dense jungle of the hammock that crowded in on Dales suggested the name for their gift shop and ultimately the Jungle Trail. Several photographs, including one picture postcard, show some of the structures of the Dales'property and its proximity to the lagoon and the island road (Lockwood 1975:27; and collections of the Indian River Historical Society, Vero Beach). Charles Braswell at Quay(later called Winter Beach) promoted tracts of land north of Johns Island, and promised a bridge connecting the mainland and the barrier island, which would connect with the new public road being proposed (Braswell Realty Company 1925). The proposed island road, following the course of the earlier Orchid-Narrows Road along the lagoon, would link the Winter Beach area with Wabasso. Homes with maturing groves, rental cottages, docks for commercial fishing were already established along the proposed route. Development of the Orchid Island Citrus Industry Orchid was the northernmost community on the barrier island within the Indian River County area, located across the lagoon from the town of Wabasso. The name of the community was borrowed from the pretty green and purple flowers of the epiphytic orchid, Encyclia tampensis. Captain Frank Forster established his homestead in the area in the 1880s,and by 1887 Orchid had a post office and school. Captain Forster planted the first commercial citrus on the island with seedlings reported to be from the Dummitt Groves of Merritt Island (Short 1981). When Forster's citrus survived the injurious freezes of the 1890s he promoted the purchase of island land and the development of the citrus industry. Stephen Michael and his family joined Captain Forster in 1887 (Johnston 2000:64). They expanded their original citrus groves by clearing to the east into the dense jungle. A.B. Michael purchased his father's groves in 1900 and added to them, and by 1917 had consolidated with the powerful Deerfield Groves Company(Johnston 2000:66). In 1915, Captain Forster sold his holdings to Deerfield Groves and moved his homestead farther south. A.B. Michael began a promotional venture that would make the Orchid Island citrus groves world famous (Richards 1968:98-99). Michael conducted research and developed uniform grading methods that set standards throughout the citrus industry. He was involved in the formation of the Indian River Citrus League, the Florida Citrus Commission, and the Florida Citrus Mutual. On June 19, 1956, Michael was recognized as the"Dean of the Florida Citrus Industry"by the Florida Citrus Mutual. Michael was one of the first to label his fruit with a trade name, a practice that soon spread throughout the fledgling citrus industry. Colorful labels often incorporated Native Americans, flowers, and other motifs closely associated with Florida and the Indian River area (Chicone and Burnette 1996; Russell 1985). Both Orchid Island and Indian River citrus labels became well known for their excellent fruit. The history of the Jungle Trail is closely tied to both early settlement of the barrier island and the citrus industry. As a county commissioner,A.B. Michael represented the northern part of St. Lucie County and the barrier island. He and his neighbors, all involved in the infancy of the citrus industry, recognized the need for public roads on the island and mainland, and especially the need for bridges. Michael, the Deerfield Groves Company, and the American Fruit Company aided St. Lucie County by providing early right-of-ways for roads and bridges (Indian River County Records 1971; St. Lucie County Records 1924).