Imagine my delight when I recently came across this portrait in my own collection of scans of negatives from Earl Dyer Ricou. Although there was no identification, I felt sure it must be Bill King so I sent it to John Norris his grandson and asked if it was his grandfather. The family confirmed it was .
What better way to share the accomplishments of Bill King than through an Ernest Lyons Column? The column was written after local attorney Jim Littman converted the Pelican Hotel to an office building.
The Pelican Hotel placed ads in Annual Fishing Guides distributed by the Martin County Chamber of Commerce. This is page four of the 1950 edition.
Advertisement for the Pelican Hotel from the 1957 Stuart Fishing Guide.
Local residents could buy memberships to the Pelican Hotel swimming pool. My friend Kay King Norris has always sworn that the guy doing a swan dive off the diving board in this photograph was my husband Tom Thurlow Jr. My Tom was not a show off so I’ve always wondered if it could really be true.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Newman Cheek was built beside the Pelican Hotel. It was convenient for eating meals in the hotel dining room.
Boom times did not last. Drew W. King Sr. came to the rescue of the Pelican Hotel in 1928. I was delighted to find the exact date on newspapers.com.
I knew that King Sr. owned and operated the King Hotel in Tullahoma, Tennessee and wondered if he came to Stuart because of a connection with affluent families from the Nashville area who had been guests in the Pelican Hotel. Members of Maxwell House Coffee Cheek family and H. G. Hill family, with 500 grocery stores in Tennessee, were big Pelican Hotel boosters. Newman Cheek built a house adjacent to the hotel that still stands.
This article appeared in the South Florida Developer on December 14, 1928.
After managing the Pelican Hotel for a decade Drew King, Sr. purchased it in 1939 and, with the help of his son Bill, continued to manage it. However, Drew Sr. died in December 1944 at the young age of 61. Two of his three sons were in the US Army. Drew, Jr. was serving in the invasion forces in the Philippines. Grover arrived for the funeral from Camp Beale, California. His daughter, Libba, was married to George Parks Jr. and another daughter, Lillie, was married to Bernard Coker.
Bill and Nina King’s five daughters; Nancy, Kay, Lillie May, Elsie Ann and finally, Quintina, grew up in Stuart and were, and continue to be, very popular. (The Kings’ use of the prefix quin meaning “five” or “fivefold” always makes me smile.)
Dale and Sue Hipson’s wedding reception was held in the Pelican Hotel in 1953, Nancy King, Dale, Sue, Dr. and Mrs. Hipson and Sue’s mother, Mrs. Eric Fletcher stand in the receiving line.
Running the Pelican Hotel was a family affair. When Sue Fletcher, the girls’ cousin came to visit and help out, she was soon married to the town’s young second generation dentist , Dr. H. H. “Dale” Hipson .
There are so many angles to the Kings’ era at the Pelican Hotel, it will take several blogs to cover them.
I reread the article “Looking down from the Third Floor,” by Christina Martinez, written when she was a South Fork High School Student in 1991. The article about the King girls living in the Pelican Hotel, is in Florida Cracker Sampler produced by South Fork High School teachers Paul Catano and Ron Ashley with a grant from the Florida Endowment for the Humanities. (Now Florida Humanities.)
The Florida Cracker Sampler has been scanned in Martin Digital History and is available to all.
I think this link will take you right to the PDF of the Florida Cracker Sampler. You can leaf through the whole book. The article about the King sisters is on pages 70-72. The students who wrote the articles and did the interviews are more than “grown up” now.
The local dream for a huge deep water port within the St. Lucie Inlet has been the subject of previous blogs. Harry Lyons, the father of beloved longtime Stuart News editor, Ernie Lyons, has also been the subject of a blog; as has the Florida Photographic Concern. This blog ties all three together is a surprising way.
Harry Lyons dedicated his harbor song to Stuart, Florida because it was where his health was restored after he worked himself to exhaustion in real estate sales on Chicago’s North Shore.
Fifteen years ago, Juanita Brown Fisher and her husband Jack bought a box of old sheet music at Palm City Auction. “Just One Place for a Harbor” published in 1924 was in the box. The words were written by Harry Lyons and the music was composed by Harry’s brother-in-law Chancellor L. Jenks.
When I saw it, I could not believe my eyes. Juanita has a lovely voice and sang in her church choir. I twisted her arm and had her sing the song acapella for a September 9, 2009 Stuart Heritage program. Juanita has never completely forgiven me but she made herself my friend forever. I have had scanned copies of the sheet music in my computer ever since the program.
Those who know music say this song is “a challenge.”
Ernie Lyons’ sister, Isabel Williams, allowed me to make copies of her family photographs. Among them were photographs of Chancellor Jenks at the piano where he composed the harbor song. Harry Lyons wrote on the photograph saying so.
Harry Lyons wrote” Where music for my Stuart Song was composed in 1924. Chancellor sang for my phonograph records of my song.”
The Jenks home was in the affluent community of Kenilworth near Chicago where Harry Lyons’ success in real estate sales inspired his grand plans for Martin County.
Harry Lyons mentioned phonograph records. His daughter, Isabel, and newspaper articles told of Florida Photographic Concern movies showing what new Martin County had to offer. Although no phonograph records or moving pictures films have survived., Florida Photographic Concern prints continue to be discovered and shared.
This photograph of the proposed harbor site recently came to light through the generosity of Bette “Tootsie” Kindberg.
This vintage postcard shows the Pelican Hotel as it looked in the 1920s.
The former Pelican Hotel stands today as the firm law firm of Gary, Williams, Parenti, Watson & Gary. Its history can be told from many angles, some of them charming, but those will be covered subsequently. The era of the hotel’s management by the King family is a heartwarming one.
I started to write this blog about Governor John Martin’s involvement in hotel’s coming into existence. The birth of Martin County is filled with what is called “conflicts of interests” today.
Governor Martin was on the board of the Griner Company that managed a chain of hotels. An agreement was signed on January 21, 1926 between the Pelican Hotel Co., with John E. Taylor as President and Gerald J. O’Reilly as Secretary and Charles B. Griner as President of the Griner Hotels, Inc. committing Griner Hotels, Inc. to operate the Pelican Hotel.
The Pelican Hotel was financed by W. I. Shuman’s Southland Bond and Mortgage Company. John E. Taylor was the mayor of Stuart. Gerald J. O’ Reilly was the architect of the Pelican Hotel as well as other buildings financed by W. I. Shuman. Taylor, O’Reilly and Shuman were all members of the County Division Committee.
This amazing photograph of the Pelican Hotel under construction was dropped off anonymously at the Stuart Heritage Museum.
The Pelican Hotel was opened just in time for the huge Martin County Birthday Parade. Governor and Mrs. Martin were the first guests to arrive. The Griner organization put on an elaborate reception, banquet, and dance at the Pelican Hotel on January 29, 1926.
Lottie Martin sits beside her husband Florida Governor John W. Martin. (Florida State Archives)
Previous blogs showed the cars, floats, bands and children passing by the reviewing stand at the Pelican Hotel.
I was shocked when I found the following article that was published in The Stuart News on March 26, 1926.
Page one of The Stuart News, March 26, 1926. ( Newspapers.com)
I am afraid my admiration for our county’s founders took a dive.
The twists of fate amaze me.
After the Pelican Hotel was no longer a hotel he was converted to an office building. It was acquired by Willie E. Gary in 1986, remodeled and furnished with elaborate custom-made mahogany furniture.
Gary, Williams, Parenti, Watson & Gary, LLC. Attorneys at Law. Photo taken September 15, 2024..
Willie E. Gary (Internet)
Willie E. Gary is an American lawyer. Gary and his wife Gloria established Martin County’s first Black law firm at the age of 27, presently known as, Gary, Williams, Parenti, Watson, Gary & Gillespie, P.L.L.C. Gary was portrayed by actor Jamie Foxx in the 2023 film The Burial. Wikipedia
Governor Martin and other dignitaries spoke from a platform on what was referred to as the “Yacht Club Grounds.” This would be today’s Flagler Park. The number of people clustered around the platform is quite remarkable considering the small population of in the new County of Martin. (The 1930 US Census Report listed 5111 total population.)
Governor John W. Martin, top hat in hand, addresses the multitudes.
They yacht club referred to was the St. Lucie River Yacht Club, the subject of an earlier blog. Stanley Kitching, the Commodore, hosted a luncheon honoring Governor Martin and his party in the yacht club following the speeches.
St. Lucie River Yacht Club was destroyed in the 1928 hurricane that drowned over two thousand people south of Lake Okeechobee.
At the bottom of this 1925 aerial photograph are: the Riverview Apartments, still standing but now vacant; the Coventry Hotel and Apartments, now flourishing as the Old Colorado Inn; the Platt/Porter House also known as the “Owl House” that is now also part of the Old Colorado Inn vacation rentals. It is easy to pick out the Post Office Arcade with the black roof that goes from Osceola to Seminole Street. It was newly built when the photograph was made.
The huge “Birthday Celebration” for Martin County was held on January 28 and 29, 1926. As mentioned previously, it was basically orchestrated Harry Lyons and Major W. I. Shuman.
Governor John W. Martin, in top hat, welcomes famed Palm Beach architect, Addison Mizner to Stuart during the January 1926 birthday celebration. William G. “Fingy” Conners, developer and builder of the Conners Highway below Lake Okeechobee, looks on. Josephine A. Paradise
After their arrival in Stuart, Gov. and Mrs. Martin checked into the newly built Pelican Hotel. They were the hotel’s first guests. They rested before settling on a parade viewing stand at eleven o’clock
Gov. and Mrs. Martin viewed the Martin County Birthday Parade from this vantage point as school children passed by.
The Martins must have been exhausted after watching a two hour long parade with over 700 decorated automobiles, numerous bands and 500 school children.
This photograph of the school children dressed to represent pioneer families was used on an invitation for a “Old Home Week” at the Elliott Museum in September 2007.
This section cropped from the previous photograph shows, Virginia Dyer, in the dark hat and Isabelle Lyons with the kerchief.
Isabelle Lyons was the daughter of parade organizer Harry Lyons and the sister of beloved Stuart News editor Ernie Lyons. Virginia Dyer, was the daughter of Stuart pioneers Flora and Harry Dyer and the granddaughter Russell and Margaret Frazier for whom Frazier Creek is named.
Sandy Thurlow and Pam Fogt “Old Home Week ” organizers, flank Isabelle Lyons Williams.Jeanne Brock Mills speaks with her mother Virginia Dyer Brock during “Old Home Week.”
One of the most significant parade photographs shows the Lyric Theatre under construction.
The number in the left hand corner identifies this photograph as the work of the Florida Photographic Concern. The images was shared by Ginger Baldwin early director the restored Lyric Theatre.
The photograph of local boosters, wives and political figures witnessing the signing of the bill creating Martin County on May 30, 1925, preserves an important moment.
Left to right seated: John E. Taylor, Mrs. W. I. Shuman, Mrs. Martin and Governor Martin, Mrs. A. W. Young, Senators T. J. Campbell and J. W. Watson. Standing: T. H. Getzen, Representative S. W. Getzen, W. B. Tilton, Major W. I. Shuman, Stuart Mayor Stanley Kitching, J. B. McDonald, Dr. Fons A. Hathaway and A. W. Young. Ashley Family Collection
I wondered about the ages of the men who went to Tallahassee to lobby for a new county, so I looked up their birth dates and did the arithmetic.
John Taylor at the age of 33 in 1925.
Stanley Kitching was 51 years old in 1925.
Jackson McDonald was 63 years old in 1925.
Warner Tilton was 29 years old in 1925.
Thompson Hart Getzen was 34 years old in 1925.
Warner Tilton, at 29 years old, was the youngest of the group. His father-in-law, R. R. Ricco who had big plans for a new county, died unexpectedly and chose Warner to represent his interests. Of the five men from the St. Lucie River region, three were related. Jackson McDonald was the step father of John Taylor and Stanley Kitching was the uncle of John Taylor’s wife.
As I contemplated the men who undertook the creation of a new county, I realized that there was only one attorney in our group, Thompson Hart Getzen. In my mind, it seems likely that having his brother in the legislature must have been a great advantage to the local leaders who wanted a new county. Then, I thought about my husband, Tom Thurlow’s little book The Early Lawyers of Martin County.
Deanna Thurlow designed and supervised the printing of The Early Lawyers of Martin County for her father-in-law. It gives me much satisfaction to have Tom’s research contribute to my blog. Florence Getzen Boushall, Thompson Hart Getzen’s daughter, provided Tom with images and information..
Deanna Thurlow shows her father-in-law the proof of his lawyer book in June 2011.
In an earlier blog about the South Florida Developer, I credited Martin County’s creation to Edwin Menninger. My history colleague, Rick Crary, has educated me about the impact Major Shuman, a new man on the scene in the early 1920s, had getting Governor Martin to support the creation of a new county and financing the building boom associated with Martin County’s creation.
This photograph of Major William Irvin Shuman was cropped from a group photo of local men with Governor John W. Martin in Tallahassee . (Courtesy Ashley Family)
Major William Erving Shuman’s Southland Bond & Mortgage Company financed numerous local building projects.
The Post Office Arcade on Osceola Street was financed by Southland Bond & Mortgage Company.This photograph of Harry Lyons as he looked in 1925 was recently shared by his grandson William Lyons.
Harry Lyons featured in my last blog was certainly in the thick of things. With all of the Lyons generated publicity for Stuart Shores, the big development on land on either side of the Welcome Arch, I began to suspect he was involved it the plans for Stuart Shores. Research, using newspapers.com, proved this to be so.
Harry Lyons and Major Shuman were quite a team when they focused their energies into planning a two day event celebrating Martin County’s creation. Dignitaries were invited, bands played, a lavish dinner was held, and a parade, the likes of which was never been matched in Martin County, took place.
Stuart Shores, the planned subdivision that would have surrounded the Welcome Arch, won the prize for best decorated open car.
There was a great deal going on behind the scenes when the Stuart Welcome Arch was built in 1926 with great haste. The real estate boom that caused the creation of Martin County also caused local communities to puff up their egos, incorporate and expand their boundaries.
Map of expanded limits of incorporated cities of Stuart, Jensen and Palm City published the the South Florida Developer on January 18, 1926.Jensen ( the Beach was not added until 1943) was and is on the Welcome Arch as you head northeast.
During the boom, the boundaries of the incorporated cities of Stuart and Jensen met each other as shown on the “Three Cities Map.”
The Welcome Arch was not completed in time for the huge Martin County Birthday Festival that took place on January 28 and 29 1926.
The Three Cities Map was printed in the South Florida Developer as part of an advertisement for St. Lucie Estates. Some of the men who were developing St. Lucie Estates were also the men who pursued the creation of Martin County and were promoting the establishment of a deep water commercial port.
Many advertisements for St. Lucie Estates were published in both the Stuart News and the South Florida Developer. This one was published in the Stuart News on July 30, 1925. The Osceola Block still stands on the northwest corner of Osceola and St. Lucie Avenues.
Lyons. Atkins & Innes were exclusive sales agents for St. Lucie Estates, subdivided in phases in differed numbered sections on what was once the pineapple fields of Stuart pioneer Carroll Duncombe. The Lyons in the name was Harry Lyons, the father of beloved Stuart News editor Ernest F. Lyons.
Harry Lyons, a self-educated former journeyman printer turned real estate salesman, was constantly submitting articles, letters and advertisements to newspapers. He promoted the formation of Martin County as well as the building of the Welcome Arch. He knew it paid to advertise and worked closely with Edwin A. Menninger..
This tabloid size booklet is a time capsule of Martin County’s creation.
Harry Lyons worked with Edwin Menninger owner of the South Florida Developer to publish a tabloid size booklet memorializing the celebration.https//www.martindigitalhistory.org
A copy of the booklet has been preserved and can be viewed on Martin Digital History. You can find it by entering “birthday” to search items.
“Stuart, Atlantic Gateway to the Gulf of Mexico.” How is this so? The first water from Lake Okeechobee came into the South Fork of the St. Lucie River on June 13, 1923. The Caloosahatchee, already partially channelized, led to Ft. Myers. Hence there was a cross-state waterway to the Gulf of Mexico. The men who promoted the formation of Martin County thought this gave our region great advantages. Products from the interior of the state could be brought to the coast inexpensively by water. Pleasure yachts could and would use the canal.
Local boosters considered the cross-state canal, our “Atlantic Gateway to the Gulf of Mexico,” would give us the upper hand when we appealed to Congress for federal money to improve the St. Lucie Inlet and establish a deep water port for ocean going vessels.
They say “be careful what you wish for.” Martin County’s greatest blessings are the result of unfulfilled dreams. Luckily, we did not always get what we wished for. We DID NOT get a deep water port. However, we wished for the St. Lucie Canal that connects with the Caloosahatchee and leads to the Gulf of Mexico and we GOT IT. We have had to deal with its consequences. The Stuart Welcome Arch is a monument to the Florida Real Estate Boom that brought Martin County into being. It has been preserved and put on the National Register.
Martin County Commissioner Doug Smith and volunteer Julie Preast pose with the Stuart Welcome Arch historical marker during its installation celebration on August 27, 2004.
The restored Stuart Atlantic Gateway to the Gulf of Mexico arch was dedicated on November 21, 2006.
The restoration of the arch and getting it placed on the National Register seemed like an impossible undertaking. We should have known not to underestimate the determination of Commissioner Doug Smith and super volunteer Julie Preast.
