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Fort Pierce celebrates a rich and colorful history. The city, located along the Indian River, established in 1837 as a fort during the Seminole Wars, and named for commander Lt. Col. Benjamin Pierce, is an idyllic place to live and play. Long before Flagler extended his railroad south, this area was a tropical wilderness with only the Native Americans to enjoy the warm climate, the waters teeming with fish, oysters, and clams, and the roaming wildlife. The pioneering families that homesteaded the area in the 1860s developed a community that would become the county seat of St. Lucie County and what is now Fort Pierce. Today, Fort Pierce is a thriving city with an abundance of cultural and educational facilities-yet it retains its small-town friendliness and residents take pride in preserving the area's natural beauty.
Few Florida communities felt the impact of World War II as much as the Atlantic-coast town of Fort Pierce. With a population that soared along with its economy, the small city made an important contribution to Allied victory by hosting a major military training base. Prior to that, the war had come only as close as the German submarines stalking targets off the southern coast of the peninsula. In 1943, however, the U.S. Navy commissioned its newest amphibious training base in Fort Pierce, and tens of thousands of young men would eventually prepare for combat on the towns sunny shores. The intensive physical and mental training was hardly a day at the beach, and within a few months, Fort Pierce had become a major military post with a national reputation. It also became the training site of some of the most elite units of the armed forces, including the Scouts and Raiders, U.S. Army Rangers, and the legendary frogmen.
Whether it was homesteaders and dragoons or cowboys and Indians, they all clashed in the "Wild East" of early Fort Pierce. A natural inlet through the barrier island into the Indian River Lagoon created the perfect location for two Seminole War forts: Pierce and Capron. After the Civil War, the Reuben Carlton family moved their cattle to the area's free range. Today, Alto "Bud" Adams Jr. runs the famous Adams Ranch from its Fort Pierce headquarters. Some time after the Carltons, Elizabeth and C.T. McCarty arrived, she to teach and he to plant pineapples and citrus. Growers like the Bernard Egan family continue to produce prize Indian River fruit. Generations of Summerlin fishermen made their living from the sea. The watered paradise still lures sport fishermen such as Terry Howard, ecotour operators like Lisa's Kayaks, and charter captains like Captain Mark. African Americans farmed, labored, and enriched the cultural environment, culminating in the success of artists such as Alfred Hair. In Legendary Locals of Fort Pierce, the town's diversity is illuminated through vignettes of its legends. Among these are Edwin Binney, the creator of Crayola crayons, and Edwin Link, the inventor of the Link flight simulator.