2/23/1988 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

A one -room school was opened in the fall of 1917, being located just south of Michael Pond. The school population ranged from as few as 5 pupils to as many as 18 during its existence, depending on the amount of farming taking place, including that at Johns Island. When the Quay (Winter Beach) bridge was opened in 1925, the older children were bused to Vero Beach, but the younger children continued in the Orchid school until the Wabasso bridge was built in 1926-27. When the right-of-way for the Wabasso bridge was secured in 1925, a Mr. Norbet Carotin, who lived at the head of Michael Pond, cleared and graded the last segment of South Jungle Trail to the proposed Wabasso Beach Road (CR5I0) . While the bridge was under construction in 1926, Deerfield Groves Co. cleared and graded the road from the river to the ocean and built a pavilion on the beach. With the advent of the Wabasso bridge, the land to the north of CR5I0 developed -fairly rapidly into citrus and a few farms. Thus we come to what is currently known as North Jungle Trail. I realize that the St. Lucie County Commission in 1920 laid out the North road on paper, but, to the best of my knowledge, the road was not implemented until about 1929. Incidentally, my father was a member of that St. Lucie County Commission. There had been some activity taking place at the north end of Spratt Creek but it had not impinged on the residents to the south. In the early 1920's, an Albert and Henry Schuman started truck farming in that area but they lived in Sebastian and traveled back and forth by boat to their farm. When the Quay (Winter Beach) bridge was built in 1925 they brought equipment across the river so that they could start a grove. The Lier Groves are now located on this property. My -father let them take it through our place and through Deerfield Groves property. They went north from there through what is now the D'Albora grove, following a sand ridge to their property. A trail branched off to the east where a Mrs. Holtz started homesteading at about this time (about 1925) . She would come through our property about twice a year and would stop to visit mother and have a meal. In about 1929, Mr. S.J. Pryor took his family north where they lived on land just to the west of the Schuman property. They cleared land to plant citrus, and, as was the practice, farmed the land for cash crops while the citrus trees were growing. After about four years, they moved across the river to Wabasso. Their grandson, Sam, now owns their homesite. From my perspective, North Jungle Trail is and has been an agri- culture access road. It is no more historic than all of the agriculture access roads in Indian River Farms or Fellsmere Farms, and those pre- date it by many years. Yes, the Sebastian Inlet lies north of North Jungle Trail. Many attempts were made to open the Inlet, but it always filled with sand in a short time. It was not until 19117 that you could say that the Inlet was opened. Certainly a few hardy and adventuresome people made the trip up North Jungle Trail and along the sandy bluff to the Inlet. We had a beach cottage just to the east of our grove, and I can attest that three- fourths of the travel to the Inlet was by beach buggy until AIA right- of-way was roughed out, by Roland Miller. We had the only potable water north of Wabasso beach and the beach . buggies would stop to get water. As for North Jungle Trail being an Indian trail for hundreds of years, it will have to be proved to me. When my sister received a canoe for Christmas in about 1922, she and I spent many a day exploring 67 FES 1888 � J BOCK 71 FADE 67