Vero Beach, Florida: 10 interesting things you might not know

Maureen Kenyon | Treasure Coast Newspapers

Show Caption Hide Caption 10 tidbits you might not know about Vero Beach Did you know there was a zoo at Pocahontas Park in the 1920s? Two contestants on "Survivor" also hail from Vero Beach. Here are 10 interesting things you might not know about the county seat of Indian River County. MAUREEN KENYON/TCPALM

Editor's note: This is the third part in a series highlighting little-known facts and tidbits about cities and towns on the Treasure Coast. This one is dedicated to Vero Beach. The first story about Stuart is here. Fort Pierce's story is here.

Many thanks to county historian Ruth Stanbridge of the Indian River County Historical Society for providing information.

Want to share other little-known facts with our readers? Email them to maureen.kenyon@tcpalm.com.

The Town of Vero Beach was incorporated in 1919, which means in less than six months, it will celebrate its 100th birthday.

Starting in October, however, monthly celebrations will capture the city's history through the decades covering technical, cultural and architectural advancements. Find a list of the monthly events here.

So, now's the time to brush up on some Vero Beach history.

Did you know when the Town of Vero was incorporated in 1919 — it added the Beach in 1925 — there was an estimated 793 people living there? Then, just 26 years later in 1945, the population more than quadrupled to 3,549.

Here are few more tidbits about Vero Beach that you might not know.

What a zoo!

Just like Stuart, Vero Beach had a mascot of sorts.

There was a zoo at Pocahontas Park on Seminole Street — now 14th Avenue — where there lived deer, bobcats, alligators and a bear named Alice.

The Pocahontas Park Zoo acquired Alice, purchased by Sen. T.J. Campbell in 1925, for $200. Alice was small and bad tempered. That same year, James Burrell Tippin captured a bobcat. Another bear, Suzie, was donated by Arthur Hill to keep Alice company.

Other animals included turtles, raccoons, a fox and an owl.

Today, Patriot, a fiberglass horse, lives at Pocahontas Park and in 2017, a genealogist tracked down the roots of the famous Vero Beach horse.

More:Coastal Living readers name Vero Beach fourth 'Happiest Seaside Town' for 2018

The park also contained a plane

The only known surviving F2H-2P Banshee aircraft was on display for almost 30 years at Pocahontas Park.

The plane, part of Navy and Marine Corps photo reconnaissance aircraft during the Korean War, was first shipped to Vero Beach on a barge in 1959.

Indian River County historian Ruth Stanbridge said she remembers children climbing on and jumping off the plane.

"My husband's friend broke his arm when he jumped off the plane," she said.

Eventually, its cockpit and wings were filled with concrete, and it remained a fixture at the park until 1988, when the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola found and acquired it. It was completely restored with the markings of an aircraft flown by a Marine Squadron during the Korean War.

There were only 89 F2H-2P Banshee photo reconnaissance planes built by McDonnell Aircraft Corp., according to a 2011 TCPalm news story by Ana Alvarez. An unarmed version of the aircraft's predecessor, the F2H-2P was equipped with two Westinghouse J34-WE-34 engines that emitted a loud wailing noise, giving the aircraft its nickname.

More:Florida bucket list: 20 things you have to do in the Sunshine State

There's a tunnel under State Road 60

It's blocked off now and no longer in use, but when it was, a tunnel connected the Citrus Bank (old Farmers Bank) to the Citrus Bank's drive-thru on State Road 60 (20th Street).

There was a side entrance to the tunnel, which wound its way diagonally underground to the corner of Old Dixie Highway, Stanbridge said. Today, it's where the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stands.

Drive-thru banks became popular after World War II, and Citrus Bank designed it in mid-century-modern style, with popular materials such as glass and aluminum, Stanbridge said.

"It's how the financial transactions were taken, back and forth, underneath State Road 60," she said. "It was for safety purposes."

That's a big cabbage!

The historic 101-year-old Vero Beach Woman's Club, one of the oldest buildings in the city, also was the city's first library.

To raise funds for books and bookshelves, club members grew and sold cabbages.

More:Vero Beach man finally opens Father's Day gift given 50 years ago

That's an old bison!

On May 1, 2016, just 10 feet below the ground's surface at the Old Vero Man site, archaeologists discovered what they believed were 13,000-year-old bones from an extinct species of bison.

The site, located near the county administration building, just off Aviation Boulevard near the Vero Beach Regional Airport, is one of the most important Ice Age historical sites in the world. In 1915, a fossilized skeleton was found there, and possibly was the oldest human remains found in North America.

However, even though the East Coast of Florida near Vero Beach was inhabited by many types of prehistoric animals during the last Ice Age, archaeologists concluded earlier this year that early man did not appear until much later.

Other bones from small mammals also were found at the Old Vero Man site, along with slivers of bones from large mammals that could have come from mammoth, mastodon, sloth or bison.

More: Old Vero Man not as old as originally thought after archaeologists analyze artifacts

Famous orator visits when Vero adds 'Beach'

One of the last public addresses of orator and politician William Jennings Bryan was a speech he gave in Pocahontas Park, according to Stanbridge.

Bryan, who emerged as a dominant force in the Democratic Party, standing three times as the party's nominee for President of the United States, addressed the crowd in the park when Vero became Vero Beach in 1925.

Bryan also served in the House of Representatives and as secretary of state under Woodrow Wilson. He resigned that position, however, and then became a promoter of Florida real estate and lived in the Miami area during the winter.

His speeches and radio talks probably contributed to the Florida real estate boom of the 1920s. The Florida boom collapsed within months after Bryan's death in 1925.

That'll be 5 cents, please

In 1920, if you wanted to cross the wooden bridge at Vero, each person eight and older paid 5 cents. If you had a horse, mule, ox, cow, donkey or pony, you had to cough up 10 cents and every touring car and driver paid 20 centers. A motorcycle was 5 cents. The money would go to the bridge district and to the county — St. Lucie County at the time — to repair the bridge and take care of the bridge.

However, if you had a truck with "road material," which included rocks or dirt, you could cross the bridge for free.

Much of that dirt, gravel and rock would be used to create Jungle Trail.

More:Indian River County historians want to preserve Jungle Trail homestead | Homegrown

They're 'Survivors'

Two Vero Beach residents made pretty big impressions — and won a lot of dough — on one of America's most popular reality adventure shows.

Parvati Shallow, 35, grew up and lived in Vero Beach until she was 11. In 2007, Shallow won the $1 million prize on "Survivor: Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites." In 2006, she competed in "Survivor: Cook Islands" in which she placed sixth, and in 2010, she was the runner-up in "Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains."

One of the most popular contestants among "Survivor" fans is Joe Del Campo, a 74-year-old former FBI agent who also hails from Vero Beach.

More: Local 'Survivor' fans cheer on Vero Beach's Joe Del Campo at viewing party

In 2016, Del Campo was cast on the 32nd season, "Survivor: Kaoh Rong: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty." He was the the oldest contestant that season by more than 20 years.

Del Campo made it to Day 34 of 39. He was pulled from the show for medical reasons.

However, many fans believe Del Campo could have won the $1 million prize.

More: Treasure Coast is home to many reality show contestants

Vero Beach and World War II

Because Vero Beach had a paved runway at the airport, within a year after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Navy moved in to the city to train, pretty much overnight, according to Bump Holman, CEO of Sun Aviation.

In fact, Holman said there seemed to be more people at the Vero Beach Naval Air Station than there were in the city of Vero Beach.

The Army and Coast Guard also patrolled the county's coastline and started a spotter program to watch the shoreline for U-boats and planes.

In 1948, after World War II ended, residents began to realize another important aspect of the Navy's presence there: they sprayed for mosquitoes.

The Navy sprayed freshwater and saltwater marshes during the war, Stanbridge said, and once they left, the spraying stopped — and the itching began.

More: Check out videos from Nick Verola on several topics at the Indian River County Historical Society

A pigskin of a tale

Did you know Vero Beach had a semi-pro football team?

According to Stanbridge, from 1929 to 1930, the Blue Streaks tossed around the pigskin for a season in Vero Beach.

Bonus!

In honor of Vero Beach's Centennial Celebration, here is a list of monthly celebrations already set for the city's 100th birthday:

Oct. 26: Vero Beach High School Halftime Tribute Show

Nov. 3: South Beach Bonfire, courtesy of the Vero Beach Lifeguard Association

Dec. 29-31: Ballet Vero Beach Nutcracker performance followed by a New Year’s Eve Sparkle party at the Heritage Center

Jan. 5, 2019: Celebrate the Arts Festival courtesy of the Cultural Council of Indian River County

February 2019: Fundraiser concert for courtesy of Live From Vero Beach

March 15, 2019: Aviation Weekend & Regional Airport Birthday Celebration

April 15, 2019: Jackie Robinson Celebration Game at Historic Dodgertown

May 26, 2019: Barbecue Children’s Fun and Live Music at Riverside Theatre

June 2019: Vero Beach Wine & Film Festival

July 4, 2019: July 4 Celebration at Riverside Park and Indian River County Library historical displays

Aug. 25, 2019: A special day of sports and activities at Leisure Square

September 2019: Press Journal 100th birthday celebrations

Oct. 26, 2019: Centennial celebration finale including a downtown parade.

More:15 Florida towns you're probably pronouncing completely wrong

Maureen Kenyon is TCPalm's trends reporter, keeping Treasure Coast residents updated on hot topics and happenings. Do you have a story to tell? Want to start a conversation? Send an email to maureen.kenyon@tcpalm.com, call 772-221-4249 or follow her on Twitter @_MaureenKenyon_.