The history of Fort Pierce’s Lincoln Park Academy, one of the first high schools for black students in Florida, will be
presented during the Treasure Coast History Festival Jan. 14.
Welcome to 2023.
Warm wishes to you for a terrific year ahead.
If you know our magazine, then you know that Treasure Coast history is our franchise.
One of our sections, called Living History, is intended to bring history alive by connecting
past events to how they have shaped the present.
We also try to bring history alive through the annual Treasure
Coast History Festival, which we began six years ago.
This year’s festival takes place Saturday, Jan. 14, from 9
a.m. to 2 p.m. on Second Street in front of the Sunrise Theatre,
117 S. Second St., in downtown Fort Pierce. Besides
historical exhibitions along Second Street, the festival also
features in the theater three significant presentations, all
tied to events that began 100 years ago in 1923.
Access to all festival events is free, compliments of our
company, Indian River Media Group, and our presenting
sponsor, St. Lucie Battery and Tire, with assistance from
Main Street Fort Pierce, the St. Lucie County Historical
Society and the Sunrise Theatre. As the host of the presentations,
I look forward to seeing you at the festival.
The 100-year history of the Sunrise
Theatre will be discussed during a presentation
Jan. 14 as part of the annual
Treasure Coast History Festival.
The first presentation begins at 9 a.m. and celebrates the centennial of the school that
became Lincoln Park Academy. In 1923, few black students were able to attend high school
— there were no black high schools south of Palatka — so local parents got together to begin
a high school in Fort Pierce that would provide an education for black teenagers. The presentation
features eight panelists deeply connected to the school, including former school board
member Samuel Gaines, who has written a history on the school.
The second presentation at 10:30 a.m. celebrates the Sunrise Theatre, which opened as a
vaudeville theater in 1923, the fulfillment of the vision of impresario R.N. “Pop” Koblegard.
Two of Koblegard’s granddaughters, Wendy Bishop and Mary Ann Bryan, will help us recall
the theater’s early days and its transition to a movie theater. Other panelists will share how
the theater was restored and reopened to its current splendor in 2006.
The final presentation is at 12:30 p.m. and
features a Cow Creek reunion, bringing people
together who are featured in our five-part
series, concluding in this issue, titled the Cow
Creek Chronicles. The series follows the lives
of C.F. Raulerson, who founded what would
become the Cow Creek Ranch in 1923, and his
descendants.
Scheduled guests on the panel include Debra
Sloan, great-granddaughter of C.F. Raulerson,
and children of the Cow Creek cowboys, many
of whom continue to follow the cattle-ranching
tradition of their fathers. The presentation will
give an insiders’ view on the world of Florida
cattle ranching while also sharing the folk
ways many cowboy families practice today.
I hope you’ll join us Jan. 14 and I look forward
to seeing you at the festival.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
Publisher & Editor
Gregory Enns
772.940.9005
enns@@indianrivermedia.com
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Danielle Rose, Anthony Westbury,
Bernie Woodall, Gregory Enns
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Gregory Enns
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Festival returns to the days of 1923
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Signatures:Signatures 2/25/13 4:25 PM Page 1
Descendants of the Cow Creek cowboys will share their
family’s folk traditions during the annual Treasure Coast
History Festival.
Reach Publisher Gregory Enns at
enns@indianrivermedia.com or 772.940.9005
/indianriverstore.com
/indianrivermagazine.com
/IndianRiverStore.com
/www.indianrivermagazine.com
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