The St. Lucie County tribune. (Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County, Fla.) 1905-1920, 1909-05-28
|Hf TRIBUNE
PRIZE WINNER
4. Lucie County; It's History,
Resources and Possibilities"
bURTffN IN CONTEST
! 0es Award Third Prize to the Following
Esssy, Written by jennie Van Dittmar,a
Public School Pupil in 10th Grade

kaint Lucie county, named for Sain
cv of Syracuse, saint OF the Ro
hi Catholic church, once occupied al
territory south and east of the
int JOINS river. The name was first
len to fort built by the Spanish
hr Cane Canaveral, 1865, gradually il
divided into smaller counties, one
which was Brevard,
n the spring of 1905, by act of the
pislature of Florida, which took eff
4 the first day of July, Brevarc
bnty was divided, and the southern
bision Was named Saint Lucie.
The present Saint Lucie county is
unded on the north by Brevard coun-
| on the east by the Atlantic ocean,
the south by Dade county, on the
st by Osceola county and Lake Okee-
k,bee comes up into and rims its
k1thwestern corner. The length of
E county, north and south, is about
kty-seven miles, and its average
EDITH, east and west, about forty
les. Fort Pierce was temporarily
kde the county seat.
The first Fourth of the new county
Is celebrated at the county seat by
parade in which the stores, business
bees and several secret orders took
Ert. The principal feature of the pa
BE was float upon which the State
lis represented by young lady, and
3 counties of the East Coast, includ-
! the "new county," by little girls.
lis estimated that two thousand peo-
> were present at the celebration.
lhe county was divided into election
|ecincts, which remained the same as
lev were before the division, except
h county line of Saint Lucie county
|thenorth boundaries of election pre-
one and five. Also at
|e organization of the new board, it
bs divided into three school districts.
|The census was taken in August,
owing the population TO be about
Zee Thousand at the time of the dlvl-
bn, and it has now more than doubled
Duly Is, the Democratic Executive
(mmittee for Saint Lucie County met
Fort Pierce to recommend candid
rs for appointment by the Governor
ID who were in due time appointed.
The assessed valuation of Saint Lucie
unty at the time of the division was
,2S3, 1853, now it is 81, 708,9 9l, show
B an increase of $497, 1913. -,
The site for the court house and jail
as donated to the county by the town
Fort Pierce, and the Jail and clerks
hce are already occupying their places
it.
The first meeting of the School Board
Saint Lucie county was held Monday.
lgust T. 1905. Tuesday morning they
oceeded to Titusville and met with
e Brevard county School Board, at
hich all school matters between the
70 counties were settled. The Fort
cree school began its first term in
int Lucie county September Is, 1905,
tn Mr.. j. R. PomerOy az principal,
ISIS Sophie Bauskett, first assistant;
ss Genie Harris, second assistant;
.. George Beck, primary, and an en-
|lment of l52 pupils, showing an in
ease of twice the number of teachers
d nearly twice the number of pupils
Tour years.
Before the division of Brevard county
ere was one paper, 1.-The Fort Pierce
avs, published by c. S. Emerson.
was the only paper published in the
,t!on now comprising Saint Lucie
lnty; but Immediately upon the erea-
q of the new county, Mr.. A. X.
ilson established 1.-THE ST. LUCE
UNITY TRIBUNE" giving this county
o newspapers that are second to
other county papers in the State.
August Ia, 1906, a wet and dry cleo
n was held, resulting in the county
ing for prohibition by a majority OF
votes, banishing the saloons from
county for many years to come.
result of this election was due to
lat extent to the efforts of THE ST.
Gle COUNTY TRIBUNE and "The Fort
rec Band"
The closing of the saloons was appro-
ately celebrated at the Improvement
10 hall at Fort Pierce on August "a.
february /, 1909. the Florida East
asst line was divided into two divis-
s.: The northern division, from Jack
vile to north end of yard lines at
IT Pierce, including branch lines; the
them division, from north end OF
q limits at Fort Pierce to Miami,
luding Key West extension under
ration.
Ipril 20, 1907, bond election was
d for the purpose of bonding the
lnty for good roads. The proposition
defeated by a majority of 20 votes.
In election will soon be held for
'-school districts, which means the
aring of better schools and longer
ms. and every taxpayer would know
t his money is spent in the education
his children and not those OF any
er school section.
amt Lucie county heads the list in