Tag Archives: Martin County

Back to the Beginning

My first blog was about compiling A Pictorial History of Palm City with my daughter Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch.  The books have arrived from Southeastern Printing, now located in Hialeah. It is time to get them in the hands of those who want them.

Southeastern Printing delivered our books on October 3, 2024

We are having a launch party on the patio of the Palm City Social, a trendy new restaurant in the location of the former Palm City Grill in Martin Downs Village Center on November 21 from 4:00 -7;00 pm. Everyone who wants to buy a book is invited.

Since I had never visited Palm City Social, I drove by and peaked in at the patio after the books arrived. It does seem like a perfect place for our book launch.
A Pictorial History of Palm City, Florida
Beautiful coffee table display.

The beautiful coffee-table style book with its watercolor of palms by acclaimed artist Jerry Rose on its cover should in every Palm City home after Christmas.

Jerry Rose painted the scene soon after he and his wife bought waterfront property from Val Martin, Martin County’s first real book merchant. The painting was a “thank you” to Val.

In 1972, Val Martin sold his bookstore in Stuart located across from Memorial Park and founded Florida Classics Library. He began publishing many valuable out of print books, beginning with Jonathan Dickinson’s Journal. When he died in 2021, at the age of 89, his niece, Julie Alexander took over Florida Classic Library located at 11300 SE Dixie Highway in Hobe Sound.

https://floridaclassicslibrary.com

The painting that graces the dust jacket of A Pictorial History of Palm City was on the wall in Florida Classic Library. Realizing it would make a beautiful cover for our Palm City book, I asked and received permission to use it from both, Julie, the owner, and Jerry, the artist.

The Ironic Legacy of the Pelican Hotel

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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

Such a Crowd!

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.

Glorious Celebration for Martin County

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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.

Edwin Menninger Made Martin County

Edwin Menninger actually DID make Martin County. Without his newspaperman’s knowhow, Martin County could not have been created. He was a very smart man from a very smart family. His physiatrists father and brothers founded the world famous Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas.

Edwin Menninger was only 18 years old in this family photograph.

Rather than psychiatry, Edwin chose journalism. After graduation from Washburn University he studied and taught journalism at Columbia, University in New York City. He came to Florida to recover from the aftereffects of flu and bought the languishing South Florida Developer in West Palm Beach and brought it to Stuart. His arrival coincided with the movement for county division.

Ed Menninger knew how to stoke the fires. He knew what was going on behind the scenes because his host when he came to Florida, Henry Newton Gaines, whose daughter was married to his brother Karl, was a Palm Beach County Commissioner who became chairman of the first Martin County Board of County Commissioners.