HOMES OF THE TREASURE COAST
RIOMAR’S HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
The year was 1918 and three
businessman E.E. Strong, were
looking for a winter retreat far
away from Ohio’s icy-cold winters.
for the perfect place to golf, swim
and fish, they came across Vero
Beach and agreed they had found
their little piece of paradise.
At the time, there were only
70 homesteaders on the town’s
mainland and the barrier island
was as yet untamed, a mosquitoinfested
live oaks and Spanish moss.
Snakes inhabited the dense
undergrowth and wild boar were
said to roam the marshes. To
complicate matters even more,
there was neither a bridge to access
light it. But with the Gulf Stream
less than 15 miles off the coast,
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HOME & DESIGN
Midwesterners, Dr. J.P. Sawyer,
Dr. W.H. Humiston, and
Scouring Florida’s east coast
jungle of tangled vines,
the island nor electricity to
Dr. Sawyer’s main residence,
which he owned along with two
more cottages on Riomar Drive,
was purchased in 1919.
BY BARBARA REID
the area experienced lower humidity
and cooler evenings than
Palm Beach to the south, and
together with the lush vegetation
and soft ocean breezes, it was
exactly what the intrepid explorers
had envisioned.
In 1919, the men formed the
East View Development Company
and purchased a 160-acre
tract of land from Lewis Stockel,
a settler who owned property
between the Indian River and
Atlantic Ocean on the barrier
island. Enlisting the expertise
of noted architect and designer
Herbert Strong, they employed
barges and mule trains to haul
building materials to the site
where they constructed a ninehole
golf course stretching 1,500
feet along the coastline. A tennis
court, beach club and guest
cottage shortly followed, and as
word began to spread, a growing
>>
RIOMAR COUNTRY CLUB ARCHIVES
The first clubhouse located on what became known as Ocean Drive. A view of the first few domains purchased on Riomar Drive, at right.
PHIL REID