A history of Fort Pierce,
since 1901
Postcards, papers and photographs of Fort Pierce from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗The city was named after the Fort Pierce army post which was built nearby in 1838 during the Second Seminole War, and lasted until 1842. The military post had been named for Benjamin Kendrick Pierce, a career United States Army officer and the brother of President Franklin Pierce.
The first permanent settlement of the current city was during the 1860s. In 1901, the city was officially incorporated as a municipality. It was the largest city on Florida's Atlantic Coast between Daytona Beach and West Palm Beach until 1970, when it was surpassed by Melbourne.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Fort Pierce’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
3 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewFort Pierce landing, 1880: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Fort Pierce
See all 35 →
Fort Pierce, decade by decade
1990s
11 historic places in Fort Pierce
11 places in Fort Pierce are on the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier, which fewer than 3% of listings reach.
Where they are
Architectural styles
When they were listed
LandmarkListed 1991Zora Neale Hurston House
Listed 1974Fort Pierce Site
Listed 1984St. Lucie High School
Listed 1985Cresthaven
Listed 1995Jules Frere House
Listed 2000St. Anastasia Catholic School, Old
Listed 2001Moores Creek Bridge
Listed 2001Arcade Building
Listed 2001Fort Pierce City Hall, Old
Listed 2001Sunrise Theatre
Listed 2002Fort Pierce Old Post OfficeThen & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Fort Pierce landing (1880) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (8) and the National Register (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.