Martin Digital History

Browse Items (24 total)

  • SHM-2024-043-DVD10-rs.pdf

    Program of the Florida Gospel Navy Bible Conference at Stuart, Florida, Sunday, February 23, to Tuesday, March 4, 1913. "All Aboard" for Bible Conference at Stuart. A Ten Days' Bible Study and Sunday School Institute With God in HIs Out-of-Doors.

    Revival meeting is the third annual meeting of nondenominational evangelical Christians and included services several times a day for ten days. Program includes photos of the Bible tent conference, fishing, grapefruit, boating down the south fork, the boat Evangel.
  • Thurlow-2024-034-winters_ed_1937-rs.pdf

    Description of attractions of Martin County, including aerials and views of landscapes, residences, boats, fishing, new construction, Wild Bill's Zoo, and Sunrise Inn in Port Sewall. Also includes ads from local businesses. This is the 5th annual issue published by the Stuart News, produced with the intent of being mailed to people in the north as advertising for the region. Aerial photographs by Florida Photographic Concern. Laminated.
  • Thurlow-2024-034-progress_ed_1939-rs.pdf

    Illustrated description of the attractions of Martin County, including the fishing, tropical reefs, the St. Lucie River, residential housing, and agriculture. Also includes a summary of Martin County's debt structure and ads from local businesses. Specific businesses mentioned include John's Laundry, Glades Packing Plant in Salerno, Ward's Trailer Camp, Ace Beauty Salon, Davis Drug Store, and Pittman's Service Station and Restaurant.
  • Thurlow-2024-034-march_of_empire_1942-rs.pdf

    Issued as a supplement to the Stuart News at Stuart, Martin County, Florida, 1 Oct 1942.

    Brochure featuring current and potential industries in Martin County, including the projected cross-state canal, shipping, the lemon grass industry, cattle ranching, Glade's Farms project of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's Farm Security Administration, sugar industry, synthetic rubber industry, and flower industry. Also includes information on George Bensel and the attractions of Fort Myers.
  • Thurlow-2024-034-MCbrochure-rs.pdf

    "This booklet is presented by The People of Martin County, Florida through Martin County Board of Commissioners. Printed by the Stuart Daily News.

    Describes agricultural benefits of Martin County. Includes descriptions of the flower, citrus, produce, and ranching industries. Specific businesses mentioned include: Bessemer Properties, O.D. Quinlivan Grove, Henry Crews Farm in Palm City, R.G. Spicer Nursery in Stuart, Rains Poultry Co. in Stuart, Chastain Ranch, Moore's Dairy in Palm City, Shark Industries Division of the Borden Company in Salerno (in operation 1944-1950), and Howard Fertilizer in Indiantown.
  • Thurlow-2024-041.pdf

    Letter about the aftermath of the 1928 Hurricane, from "Dick" to "Papa". Transcribed by historian Sandra Henderson Thurlow. Letter was given to Sandra by Mrs. Iris Wall of Indiantown in 2003.

    Transcription: Tuesday Nite

    Dear Papa:

    We arrived here at four A.M. this morning and tried to sleep for an hour and a half then started to work. This is undoubtedly as bad a mess as I ever care to see. They are bringing in dead people all the time and they are swollen up about as big as cows and stink something awful. The old Dog Fennels are where they are lodged up. The water is about three feet over the farms and deeper in other places. The town is about two feet deep all over. Everything is ruined. Houses look like trash heaps—lot of them are scattered for a mile, just a piece here and there. Dead cows and hogs everywhere. The place smells like a corpse. It is awful but I am about used to smelling it now. Don’t know what I will do when I smell fresh air again. The water in the lake is awful on account of the dead things in it. They will not allow us to even bathe as all the water we get comes in on boats and is used to drink and cook with. We cannot even shave on account of the danger of cutting ourselves and getting it infected and we have to [be] looked over ever so often and any scratch doctored.

    Awful does not describe it at all. I saw one man identify his father, mother, and brother and wife in a batch of bodies brought in. Now that was a pitiful sight. He had not closed his eyes since Friday looking and waiting for them and then to find them all downed and they were in awful shape. Hardly any clothes left on them, just rags. One man identified his fifth child this afternoon and his wife is still missing. One old man about eighty identified his wife this morning when they brought her in with hardly a rag on her, that was awful to see the old fellow. Some bodies come in with all the skin and hair gone and their eyes swollen until they have busted and their tongues sticking out and swollen larger than your hand and their faces all out of shape. One man brought in here looked as tho he would weigh about 250 pounds they said only weighed about 110.

    They do not embalm them any more, just put them in a box and haul them to Cities Center and bury them. Two trucks have been busy now two days hauling bodies out to the solid ground and two hauling in coffins. I guess they built about 20 coffins out of rough lumber today and they have to wait for boxes –some bodies have to lay on the ground for several hours before they have any thing to put them in.

    The State is sending in a bunch of antitoxin to inoculate us with tomorrow to prevent us from getting sick. I saw a paper today but they don’t describe it near as bad as it is.

    The town is under Martial Law and they are sending people out of here as fast as they can get a means of getting them out. They have to get them out because there is no place for them to sleep and nothing for them to eat.

    I took a second lieutenant in tow this afternoon. He was drunk and just raising sand and Chesterfield told him to quiet down and he was in for getting his gun and he was standing right in front of me. I grabbed his arm and got a “Hammer Lock” on him and believe me he hit the ground like a sack of sand and…I held my holt until a deputy took him over. That is the only fun I have had since I left Arcadia.

    I am on guard duty now and have been on for eight straight hours. Got up at 5:30 and it is nearly two A. M. now. How is that for a day. All I have to do is sit here and see that there is no stealing. My orders are to stop them and if they did not stop use my own judgement. Things are pretty quiet so don’t guess I will have any trouble. Most of the people are gone and no one is allowed in here.

    There are houses or rather what is left of them, with lily pads on top of them the water was so high. The people say that when the dykes broke the water came in a wall and a lot of people were drowned before they could get out of it. Cars are left in the road right where the water caught them. There is a steel coal care one mile from the track and two big Gul Ref. Co tanks about four miles from town where they were washed. The water just picked up about a mile of the railroad track and just turned it bottom upwards. Now that was some force. The embankment was not washed away either.

    Well, Papa, it is time for my relief so will close and try to mail this tomorrow.

    Love to you all

    Dick

    No need to write as no mail comes in and I will have to meet a train or find someone who will to mail this as the train does not come closer that 12 miles. DBJ
  • Luckhardt-tribute-program-001.pdf

    Program with obituary of Alice Louise Kershaw Luckhardt focusing on her contributions to local history, which included writing several books and a weekly column, making presentations, researching historical projects, and serving on the Board of Directors of the Stuart Heritage Museum.

    Produced for the 2023 Historic Preservation Month open house at the Stuart Heritage Museum.
  • Thurlow-2024-034-brochure-sm.pdf

    Newspaper insert in the South Florida Developer (28 July 1925), published by the City of Stuart and the Stuart Chamber of Commerce. Features images, including that of the town of Stuart, the Woman's Club, plans of the St. Lucie River Country Club, fishing and agricultural activities, large houses, and aerial views.
  • Stuart_News_Historical_Ed_1950_2go.pdf

    This expanded special issue of the Stuart News features articles and photos focuses on the history of Martin County.

    Use the <ctrl>f feature to search the issue.

    Index of articles:
    12,180-Acre Gomez Grant Deeded For Aid: B-5 (I)*
    18 Prospective New Palm City Families Came Here in 1917: H-6
    A Safe Anchorage…(Wreck of Wilbert F. Barlett Caption) G-8
    A. D. Fort Recollects Much On Early Hunting Days Here: B-1 (I)
    A. R. Krueger Came Here in 1886, Nicknamed Dude: page 11 (I)
    Adams Home Was Museum of Nature: page 19 (D)
    Albany Ave. Band Stand (caption): C-1
    Ashley Gang Terrorized This Area For Decade, Alfred and Katherine Hanna: E-1 & 7
    B. W. Mulford Was Salerno's Big Developer: page 17, (I)
    Baptist Made Start in 1915: page 13 (D)
    Battle of Okeechobee in 1837 One of Most Decisive: John Halbe, page 19
    Black Caesar, Gasparilla Made Bloody Pirate History: page 20
    Boom Days Surveyor (William H. Roat caption): B-5
    Bootlegging Here Was Dazzling Era of Fortune, Piracy, Death: G-8
    Cabot May Have Found Florida in 1496: A-1 (I)
    Capt. John Miller, Walton Pioneer, Came to Florida in 1886: H-7 (I)
    Catholic Church Built Here in 1916: page 13 (D)
    City's First Lodge Building (Woodmen Hall caption): B-7
    Col O. O. Poppleton Was Here 31 Years, Became Bee Expert, A-7 (I)
    Commodore Kitching Was First Iceman: E-8
    Company That Dug East Coast Canal Was Formed in 1874: G-5
    Congressional Act in 1842 Led to first Colony on Indian River: page 9
    Conners Highway Opened With Celebration 1924: H-5
    Contract Drawn in 1882 to Dredge St. Lucie Inlet: page 9 (D)
    County Bond Debt Cut 45 Per Cent Since '30: C -8
    County's Creation Was Hard Work: A-1 & 2
    Dickinson Park Has 11,123 Acres, Lewis G. Scoggi:, page 20 (D)
    Dickinson's Shipwreck Diary is Great American Classic: A-3
    Dunkin Carried Gospel Word 17 Years To Indiantown: 17 (I)
    Elias Simmons Brought Family Here In 1889: B-5 (I)
    Ernest Stypmann, '82 Pioneer, Bought First U. S. Land Here, Laid Out Town: D-7
    Facts Prove City, County Prospering: B-1
    FEC Worker's Named Adopted For Potsdam: A- 7
    Fire Destroyed Stuart's Largest Building in 1927: 19, (I)
    Fire Struck in 1908: H-1
    First Episcopalian Services In Area Were Held in 1931, George Huntington: 13 (D)
    First School Teacher: page 10 (I)
    Fishing Remains A Flourishing Sport Here: F-2 & 7
    Five Martin Communities Once Were Incorporated Town: B-1 (D)
    Fort Marked Port Mayaca Start in 1837
    Four Kitching Brothers Settled on Coast: page 13 (D)
    Frazier Family Arrived Her 63 Years Ago: G-7 (I)
    Fredricksens Took Florida Trip in 1893 on Coin Flip: H-1
    Game of Baseball Played Here for Half Century: F-3 & 7
    Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge Built in 1876: F-4 & 5
    Gold in County Awaits a Finder, F. D. Eaton: page 20 (D)
    Gosling Founded River's First Town: G-7
    H. H. Stuart Came to Area to Hunt Gator: A-7
    H. W. Bessey Came to State in '80, Built First Home Here: G-3
    Henry Sewall Born Here, Settled Point: page 13 (I)
    High School Band Created With Enthusiasm in 1938: C -7 (I)
    Hogarths Started Winter Visiting in 1890s: page 20 (D)
    How Did Stuart Get Its Name?: A-7
    How Papers Do Change in Century: G-2
    Incorporation of Stuart Began May 7, 1914: B-1
    Indians Gave Hobe Sound Area's Names: H-6
    J. P. Lees Owned First Paper Here: G-2
    James H. Rogers Founded Port Sewall: H-8
    Jensen Incorporation Jan. 18, 1926: H-1
    Jensen Was Pine Center of World: H-2
    Jensen, Waveland Division Line is Recollected: H-1
    John W. Martin Realized Dream To Be Governor: page 13 (D)
    Joshua Smith First Settled Gomez in 1886: H-7
    Just What Was Stuart Like 25 Years Ago? Edwin A Menninger: C-1 (I)
    Karl H. Bentel Opened first Bakery in 1915: E-7
    Largest Fish Company: H-1
    Legal Instruments Measure Trend of Times in County: C-8
    Letter: to J. R. Parrott about St. Lucie River Fill, Chas. O Haines,: B-2
    Life in Eden Was Rough Half A Century Ago, Lucie Richards Letourneau: B-2 (I)
    Lions Club City's Newest Civic Group: B-7
    Local County Club Founded, Golf Course Built in 1924: F-1
    Local Horticulture Report During 1900: H-6
    Local Inlet That Was, Wasn't, Then Shifted Is Fascinating: A-1 & 3
    Manatee Plentiful in St. Lucie in 1858, Andrew P. Canova: G-3
    Martin County Has Made Healthy Comeback from Many Hurricanes, Ernest Lyons: G-5
    Martin County Has 69 Years Postal History: page 2 & 5
    Martin County Taxes Best Since '27: B-5
    McPhersons Arrived Her in 1890s: E-8
    Miles-Hansen Grant was Gift in 1813:B-5
    Morris Johns Held Public Office Here: page 9 (D)
    Most Martin County Offices Have Seen Little Turnover: B-5
    Music Vital to Pioneers: C-1 (I)
    No Ails Forced First Doctor to Leave (North): 19 (D)
    Novel Describes Early Mail Service: B-1
    Obstructions Caused FEC's U-Bend Here: B-2
    Otto Stypmann Settled Here in 1882 to Work 47 Year for Stuart's Good: D-5
    Palm City's Only School (caption): H-6
    Parks, Johns Families Settle here in Early 1890s: page 9 (I)
    Pennocks Dairy Started in 1910: page 15 (D
    Phones Mirror City's Growth: E-6
    Picking King Oranges at Indiantown (caption): H-5
    Pirate Gilbert May Have Had Lookouts Here: page 20
    Platts Carved Out Indiantown Home from 1898 Wilderness: page 17 (I)
    Postal Mishap Led to the Naming of Rio (W. E. Rea): H-3
    Power First Came to Stuart in 1916: Palm City, Jensen Service in 1926, E-4 & 7
    Presbyterians Began in 1925: page 13 (D)
    P-TA Organized in 1915 : G-6 (I)
    R. L. Beville Stuart's First Railroad Agent: page 10 (I)
    Rail and Sail, Vied for Freight (caption): B-7
    Rev. H. H. Jones Organized Church In Jensen in 1906: H-1
    Sale of Lands in Palm City Began in 1910: H-6
    Sales of 3 Items Exemplify County's Health Progress: C-8
    Seaboard Came to Indiantown 25 Years Ago: B-2
    Seminole Chief Little Tiger (caption): E-1
    Southern States Land and Timber Company, Edwin a. Menninger, 17 (D)
    Stories of First Parrots Recounted: page 14 (D)
    Stuart Band Formed in 1915: C-7
    Stuart Bridge Built in 1933 For $385,814: G-3
    Stuart High School's Football Saga Began in 1926: F-1
    Stuart Legion Post Founded In June 1919: B-7
    Stuart Negro Baseball Club Began in '26; F-1
    Stuart News Staff of 1950 (caption): G-1
    Stuart Newspapers Started With the Times in 1913: G-2
    Stuart Training School's Athletics Started in 1927: F-1
    Stuart Woman's Club Begun By Two Women in 1913: G-6
    Stuart's First Bank (caption) B-1 (I)
    Stuart's Theater Going Began When Lyric was built in 1914: 6 (D)
    Taylor, Watson County's First State Legislators: C-8
    Telegrapher Disputes How City Got Name: W. F. Steever: A-7
    Telegraphic Service Began In Martin County in 1894: E-8
    The Pink Paper Now the Palm Beach Sun: A-1
    This fine New School Was Built in 1923: page 14 (D)
    Tom Britt Began Haircut Business: C-8
    Tom DeSteuben Was Initial Lawyer Here: H-2
    Town Football Team Played 3 Years: F-1
    Twenty-seven Men Began Kiwanis Club Here in 1938: B-7 (I)
    W. A. Roebuck Family First to Settle Toward Indiantown: H-5 (I)
    Walter Kitching Came to Florida In 1882, Bought First Land Here, E-1
    Willoughby Was Versatile Area Explorer: H-8
    Worth Reorganized City Band in 1920: C-1
  • 2024-033-TheFishHouseStory-2021-2go.pdf

    This 177 slide PowerPoint presentation on the history of Port Salerno features images and historical information on Port Salerno. Includes timelines of important events and images of boatyards, fish houses, shark fishery, Quigley family, train wreck at the Salerno railroad station (1922), and fishermen at work. Also images of buildings and businesses in Port Salerno post 2000.

    Author John Hennessee converted the last Salerno Fish House (originally C & W Fish Company) into the Fish House Art Center, which hosts visiting artists and a gallery; a restaurant and marina complete the complex.
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