PORT ST. LUCIE HISTORICAL SOCIETY - OUR HISTORY
EVENTS IN 2022-2023
The Port St. Lucie Historical Society’s big news for 2022 was the start of construction on renovations for the historic Peacock family’s historic “hunting lodge,” which will house the museum of the city’s history. When completed the Museum and the nearby historic Peacock Ranch house will be part of The Port District recreational site on Westmoreland Avenue.
From the city’s July 1 press release:
Located near Port St. Lucie’s Botanical Gardens at the southern end of The Port District, the 1952 Peacock Lodge and adjacent 1917 Peacock House bring quite a bit of history to the area. The City of Port St. Lucie awarded a contract to New World Builders of DeLand for the refurbishment of the Historic Peacock Lodge ,and work began this week.
With assistance of a grant from the Florida Department of Historical Resources, the two historic structures were relocated to the property near the North Fork of the St. Lucie River from western Port St. Lucie in 2018. Once moved, each building received updates, including securing and modifying access to the structures, updating the foundations, installing new shingle roofs and a fresh coat of exterior paint.
New World Builders will work on more updates to bring the lodge back to its original luster. The Peacock Lodge will feature a museum and gift shop, run by the Port St. Lucie Historical Society, and provide for meeting space and office space. Future renovations to the 1917 Peacock House are planned in the City’s Capital Improvement Program as well.
Shown above is a display of the progress on the future Port St. Lucie Historical Museum as presented by Jennifer Davis, Community Redevelopment Agency Project Manager for the city, at the Gathering October 19. The society was expected to get entry to the renovated museum in the late spring of 2023, but it now appears it will be later in the year. Work on the nearby Peacock House is expected to begin in two or three years. It will be furnished with period furniture.
The sale of bricks to go in the walkways around the museum and historic house was slow as we awaited information on progress. Proposals made to companies and groups concerning large displays in the bricked area were met with positive response and are still in the works.
While waiting for the City to prepare our museum, the archiving office and a video studio moved into an attractive new site off the parking lot at the Shell Bazaar on U.S. 1. We previously had an interior room at the same location, but this made it much nicer for volunteers to help enter items into our database, similar to that used by libraries. The move is thanks to Vice Chair Dennis Grabhorn, shown below left, and his assistant Chris. The video studio was taken over later in the year to accommodate a new restaurant planned adjacent to the Shell Bazaar.
Founding member and long-time Port St. Lucie Historical Society Director Paula Lewis, right, retired from the Board in February. Paula brought a broad knowledge of both the city and the county’s history to the society having served on the governing boards of both. She was a City Council member in the 1980s, going on to become a County Co
Founding member and long-time Port St. Lucie Historical Society Director Paula Lewis, right, retired from the Board in February. Paula brought a broad knowledge of both the city and the county’s history to the society having served on the governing boards of both. She was a City Council member in the 1980s, going on to become a County Commission for many years. Ashley Tuccio, of Spherion Staffing, a Florida native and a four-year resident of Port St. Lucie, was appointed to fill the vacancy. She resigned later in the year due to demands of a new job.
Four members of the Port St. Lucie Historical Museum traveled Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, to Okeechobee for an open house of the Okeechobee Historical Museum. With cooperation from the city and county of Okeechobee, that organization has restored or is restoring several buildings marked for historical preservation. Our guide was historian an
Four members of the Port St. Lucie Historical Museum traveled Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, to Okeechobee for an open house of the Okeechobee Historical Museum. With cooperation from the city and county of Okeechobee, that organization has restored or is restoring several buildings marked for historical preservation. Our guide was historian and Okeechobee Mayor Dowling Watford, shown above with PSLHS directors Christine Williams and Rochella Riordan. Also on the excursion were Director Mary Dodge and her husband Jack.
Researching Port St. Lucie’s history got a boost in May when newspapers.com, an online repository of the nation’s newspapers, added editions of the St. Lucie News Tribune from 1952 to 2022 and The Stuart News from 1995 to 2022. This will be a huge help in researching our history as they are now part of the largest available online deposi
Researching Port St. Lucie’s history got a boost in May when newspapers.com, an online repository of the nation’s newspapers, added editions of the St. Lucie News Tribune from 1952 to 2022 and The Stuart News from 1995 to 2022. This will be a huge help in researching our history as they are now part of the largest available online depository of news stories. The Port St. Lucie versions of either paper have not been added, but the major events would have appeared in both of the other editions. One find was this portion of the Mackle Brothers advertising is from the Oct. 26, 1958, Fort Pierce Tribune. It appears to be the first local announcement of a new community named “Port St. Lucie.”