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.

Major William Erving Shuman’s Southland Bond & Mortgage Company financed numerous local building projects.

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.