Indiantown...Rich in History

INDIANTOWN...RICH IN HISTORY

INDIANTOWN ... THE COMMUNITY

Unique to the rest of Martin County, Indiantown is situated in the midst of large citrus groves and is bordered by the peaceful St. Lucie Canal.

The residents of this unincorporated area enjoy the sense of community associated with living in a small town. They also like the idea that located 30 minutes away are the dining, shopping and other attractions associated with the bigger cities.

Whether raising funds for a worthwhile project or voicing their opinions at a local town meeting, the townspeople show their concern for their neighbors and their neighborhood.

Recognizing the community is on the threshold of growth, local business leaders are taking a more aggressive posture toward attracting commerce to the area. Easy accessibility by land, rail, air and water and competitive land prices add to Indiantown's appeal.

INDIANTOWN ... RICH IN HISTORY

Indiantown is rich in history.

The first known inhabitants were Georgia-born Seminole Indians who, in the early 1800's, found the area's higher elevation, friendly climate and fertile land perfect for their tranquil lifestyle. The tranquility, however, lasted only until the mid-1830's by which time the U.S. Military had moved in and taken control.

Having "settled" the area, the military moved out and it was not until the early 1890's that serious settlers began arriving. Among the first were Francis Marion Platt who brought his family from Arcadia, less than 100 miles to the west but then a six-day journey, and Joe Bowers. Platt established cattle ranching and orange growing while Bowers planted many citrus trees and founded what is known in Indiantown as Bowers Groves.

Around 1902 developers "discovered" the area and began buying land at 50 cents an acre from the strapped U.S. Government. And, during World War I, the military again returned to dredge the St. Lucie Canal to serve as a drainage system from Lake Okeechobee east to the Atlantic Coast.

In the early 1920's, S. Davies Warfield, a Baltimore financier who was building a railroad from Central Florida to west Palm Beach, began assembling large parcels of land. Warfield saw the community as the southern headquarters of his rail line and even dreamed of it becoming the County Seat of Martin County, which was formed in 1925.

As part of his dream, Warfield built the Seminole Inn opened to a gala gathering in 1927 and to this day remains a historic site. Among those attending the opening was Warfield's niece, Wallis, who later married the King of England and became the Duchess of Windsor.

Warfield died in 1927 before his dreams came to fruition and, when the Great Depression set in, his holdings were sold to a consortium of out-of-state investors who formed the Indian Town Development Company in 1937. Little progress was attained, however, in the next decade and a half.

In 1953, new investors purchased the Indian Town Development Company's holdings and renamed the firm the Indiantown Company, Inc.

In its 43 years of stewardship, the Indiantown Company, Inc., has brought vast improvements to the community, opening the Marina, developing land plans, installing utility services and preparing for the significant growth expected in the decade ahead.

INDIANTOWN ... POISED FOR GROWTH AND CLOSE TO EXCITEMENT

Geographically, unincorporated Indiantown (1990 estimated population: 6,300) Longitude 81.5 degrees West and Latitude 27 degrees North in western Martin County, whose county seat is Stuart. Average rainfall is 54.8 inches a year while temperatures range from an average 65.6 degrees F in January to 81.7 degrees F in July for an average of 74 degrees. Elevation is 35 feet above sea level.

Perched on the St. Lucie Canal, the only waterway in Florida that connects trade and tourist communities on the Atlantic Ocean to those on the Gulf of Mexico, Indiantown offers different advantages to different interests.

To investors and land development companies pinched by rising costs and crowded conditions on each coast it is a logical and economical place to look for new opportunities in residential, commercial and industrial construction. Because of its location, Indiantownoffers an almost unique blend of small town lifestyle and big city sophistication. Within minutes from a home where a pet pony grazes are Fifth Avenue shops, major and minor league baseball, Broadway shows, museums, art galleries and other attractions.

To boating people it is the home of the "second cleanest Marina in the world" and one of the "safest hurricane holes" on the East Coast of the United States. One of the older, yet modern, businesses in the community, the Indiantown Marina, was established in 1957 and is owned by the Indiantown Company. Located on the St. Lucie Canal which links Stuart on the East Coast to Fort Myers on the West Coast via Lake Okeechobee and the Calloosahatchee River, the 32-slip marina offers transient and monthly accommodations as well as dry storage for vessels.

The marina has a hoist and mast-stepping facility, a 30 ton travel lift, a ramp for small boats, gas and diesel fuel, ice, laundry, showers and heads, a Captain's Lounge, Ship's Store and a shady picnic area on the canal. The "second cleanest marina in the world" distinction was paid to the Indiantown Marina by Florida Waterways Magazine. Indiantown's marina is known to boaters everywhere.

While there is no commercial air service in Indiantown, a federally licensed landing strip with a 7,000-foot grass runway is available for use by private and charter planes. Plans for new services and improvements to the airfield are in the developmental stage at this writing. Regularly scheduled commercial flights on major airlines are available from West Palm Beach International Airport, a 45-minute drive from Indiantown.

Financial services in Indiantown are centered at First Bank of lndiantown, a privately held institution that was founded in 1960 and is Martin County's second oldest bank. The bank has assets of over $18 million, operates a branch office in the Stuart area and offers a complete line of financial services.

Natural and propane gas services are provided to the Indiantown community by the locally owned Indiantown Gas Company.

Technically, Indiantown is up to date. The ITS Telecommunications Systems, Inc., multimillion dollar state-of-the-art network offers some subscribers all the sophisticated services found in larger cities, such as: voice mail, conference calling, call waiting, call forwarding and speed dialing.

To persons seeking a second home or a tranquil year-round residence, Indiantown is one of the few remaining south Florida communities that offers long-gone life-styles while remaining less than an hour's drive from sophisticated shopping and cultural centers.

lndianwood Golf and Country Club is a 118-acre golf and tennis community of manufactured homes for adults that opened in 1984. Located in a wooded section off State Road 710, the main highway that runs through Indiantown and connects West Palm Beach 28 miles to the southeast with Okeechobee 29 miles in the opposite direction, Indianwood features a recreation center, swimming pool, a heart trail and other amenities in addition to tennis and an 18-hole golf course.

Planned for 596 single family homes at build-out, the community's golf course is open to the public and many residents own their own golf carts for easy travel around the community.

Schools in the western Martin County community include Warfield Elementary School (Pre-K through fourth grade), Indiantown Middle School (fifth through eighth grades), and the privately operated Hope Rural School (kindergarten through sixth grades). Students of high school age attend South Fork High School, a facility about 11 miles from Indiantown which opened in 1982. Preschool aged children are served by several facilities in Indiantown, the Y.M.C.A. Day Care, Thelma Waters Infant Center and East Coast Migrant Head Start among others.

Churches of most denominations are conveniently located throughout the community.

In June, 1991, the Indiantown Branch of the Martin County Library opened its doors. Centrally located, the fully computerized facility houses over 22,000 items that include books, audio tapes and video tapes, 102 periodicals and computers for both adults and children. The pride of the entire Indiantown community, the Library offers hours that are convenient to everyone.

Indiantown is served by an able and well-trained volunteer fire department and law enforcement is provided by a satellite office of the Martin County Sheriff's Department. Cable television is available and active organizations in the community include a growing Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis Club, 4-H, P.T.O., Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of America, Indiantown Little League, V.F.W. and others.

On April 8, 1995, two new additions to the Indiantown recreational community were dedicated.

The "Homer Wall Gazebo" located next to the Indiantown Library in Kiwanis Park was funded from the million dollar trust fund of the U.S. Generating Company. Mr. Wall was a founding member of the Indiantown Kiwanis Club and devoted his life to helping others in the community.

Timer Powers Park is a 37 acre recreational facility on Citrus Boulevard. The property, purchased by Martin County through the "Lands For You" Project, rests on the banks of the St. Lucie Waterway and includes a playground, picnic pavilions, exercise trail, equestrian arena and public boat ramp. It also serves as the site for the community's Annual Indiantown Spring Festival. The park was named in honor of long time Indiantown business owner and resident Timer Powers. Besides being involved locally in the Indiantown community, active in the Kiwanis and the Chamber of Commerce, on the State level Timer was instrumental in negotiations with the Seminole Indians.

Finding shopping suitable to your taste is only minutes away. To the east in Jensen Beach is the Treasure Coast Square Mall which is host to several large name department stores. In the other direction, one can find flair and excitement in the Gardens Mall, home of Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy's, the Palm Beach Mall and Worth Avenue in fabled Palm Beach.

Excellent restaurants can be found in nearby Stuart, West Palm Beach, and Fort Pierce. A variety of dinner entertainment is available. In Fort Pierce, the Courtside Lounge offers Jai Alai bettors a chance to pay dinner expenses while watching the matches. West Palm Beach's Palm Beach Kennel Club will provide you dinner in their Paddock Dining Room while watching greyhound racing Entertainment in abundance can be found aboard the cruise ships that depart out it of the Port of Palm Beach located in Riveria Beach just 30 minutes away.

To sports fans Indiantown is the home of Payson Park, one of the country's top thoroughbred horse training tracks, Jai Alai in Fort Pierce, greyhound racing at Palm Beach Kennel Club and a neighbor of the "big leagues" with both major and minor league baseball in Port St. Lucie, Vero Beach, and the beautiful new Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter.

Thoroughbred horses are trained for races at Hialeah. Gulfstream Park and Calder Race Course, all within two hours drive, at Indiantown's Payson Park. Payson Park, located about six miles east of Indiantown on State Road 76 leading to Stuart, is home to more than 500 thoroughbred race horses during Florida's winter racing season and is considered one of the finest training facilities in the United States. Purchased a few years ago by the late Charles Shipman Payson of New York, who subsequently spent millions improving the facility, the training center is open to the public.

Major league baseball arrived on Indiantown's doorstep when the New York Mets began training for the1988 National League season in a brand new complex in nearby Port St. Lucie. The Mets also own and operate a Class A team in the Florida State League. Two other major league teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers in Vero Beach and the Montreal Expos in Jupiter do their spring training within easy driving distance of Indiantown.

And to fisherman, Indiantown is utopia: only 10 miles from the wondrous catches of Lake Okeechobee, the second largest fresh water lake in the United States, and only 20 miles from deep sea fishing off Stuart, "the Sailfish Capital of the World".

Being less than an hour's drive from deep sea fishing in the Atlantic Ocean and fresh water catches in Lake Okeechobee, Indiantown is more marine-oriented than many larger towns. A few miles west, between the Indiantown Marina and the lake, are the Port Mayaca Locks, a modern gateway to Lake Okeechobee. Ten or 12 miles east are the St. Lucie Locks located at Phipps Park, a facility open to the public where ocean-going vessels and small craft alike are raised or lowered 14 feet to compensate for the difference in elevation of Indiantown and the coast.

The locks were installed by the Army Corps of Engineers when the St. Lucie Canal was dredged to serve as both drainage system from Lake Okeechobee and the only marine link across the State of Florida from Stuart to Fort Myers During World War II, merchant ships and others often detoured into the canal to avoid being spotted by German U-boats which, in the early years of the War prowled the Atlantic coast.

Nature lovers need go no further than a few miles to Indiantown's neighboring Barley Barber Swamp, a unique preserve where eagles nest and rare and endangered plants and animals thrive. Admission to the Swamp is free and guided tours, courtesy of Florida Power and Light Company may be made by calling 800-257-9267 for reservations or visiting the Seminole Country Inn.

In the opposite direction in West Palm Beach, for a nominal admission, is Dreher Park Zoo and also Lion Country Safari where visitors can drive through an area of free roaming jungle animals.

At the human level, the T & M Ranch on Fox Brown Road is a haven where handicapped youngsters learn to overcome and live with their disabilities. They operate a landscape nursery and business that has provided many hours of labor and scores of wonderful plants to the Indiantown community to help in its beautification projects.

Other humanitarian reconstruction is performed at Dunklin Memorial Camp, a Christ centered drug and alcohol rehabilitation center founded in 1963. They also host seminars, retreats, conferences as well as having church meet each Sunday at Dunklin. They have been instrumental in starting drug rehab centers in such places like Costa Rica, Russia and are currently expanding by adding an International Training Center to it's already expansive self sufficient community, located in a part of the county where nature is a part of the lifestyle

To industry seeking sites for new plants, Indiantown is a convenient location offering shipment by truck via Florida's Turnpike and Interstate 95, by rail on the CSX Transportation System, Inc., which has siding for 300 cars and even by barge on the St. Lucie Canal.

Prompted by moves to Indiantown by such companies as Bay State Milling Company, Entegra Roof Tiles, Inc., and Tampa Farm Service, Inc., and recognizing the potential for further residential and commercial growth, the Indiantown Company has expanded and improved its water, sewers and refuse services.

Such services compliment those installed in the company's M-1 Light Industrial Park. Similar services are in place in the area zoned for heavy industrial where both Bay State Milling and Louis Dreyfus, a large juice plant and producer of orange juice concentrate, are located.

New additions to the Indiantown industrial area is the expanded facilities of the Florida Power and Light Martin Plant site, whose plants are the largest fossil fuel plants in Florida, and the new co-generation power plant of U.S Generating Company.

Florida Power and Light Company added 800 megawatts of electrical generating capacity to their existing plant in lndiantown. The PG&E Generating Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bechtel Corporation and Pacific Gas & Electric Company, constructed a 350 megawatt electrical co-generation plant. This plant produces electricity for Florida Power & Light and steam for the Caulkins fruit processing plant.

In season, Indiantown is a beehive of citrus activity from which millions of oranges and grapefruit are shipped annually. Local residents regularly travel down a dirt road to buy fresh fruit and juice at Owens Grove, a recognized industry leader, or visit the large Caulkins Indiantown Citrus plant where citrus concentrate is made for customers in the U.S. and abroad.

Cattle raising, both beef and dairy, is another facet of Indiantown's many-faceted economy. And just a few miles south in Clewiston is the country's largest sugar cane producing area.

While existing industrial, commercial and agricultural interests give Indiantown a well-balanced economy, it is the near-future potential that excites knowledgeable observers. Citing already crowded and expensive conditions along the nearby Atlantic Coast, they point out that the move west toward Indiantown is inevitable if South Florida is to accommodate the increased residential and business population projected for the next decade.

As that move progresses, Indiantown with its convenient location, state-of-the-art services and wealth of land, is truly poised for growth. With a wealth of wonderful things to see and do - ranging from fishing to shopping to dining out to watching sports - Indiantown is, in fact, close to excitement.