History of the City of Port St. Lucie, Florida

Port St. Lucie, Florida was a largely uninhabited tract of land until the 1950s, mostly just a fishing camp, a few farms and businesses near US 1.  However, in 1958, the General Development Corporation (GDC) purchased the River Park development area of town as well as and 40,000 acres along the banks of the North Fork of the St. Lucie River.  The following year, the GDC opened its first causeway over the St. Lucie River, allowing for direct automobile access to Port St. Lucie and enabling an influx of new residents and residential developments.

By 1961 there were 250 new homes in Port St. Lucie, at which point the GDC requested that the state legislature pass a law to officially incorporate the region into the City of Port St. Lucie.  In an unusual twist, Port St. Lucie did not incorporate a city as such at the request of its residents, though it did officially become a city on April 27, 1961.

The city expanded In the early 1990s, when another developer became involved and acquired a tract of land to began planning a branch on the west side of town.  St. Lucie West was originally intended contain about 14,000 homes, to be built over a 20-year period.  However, after realizing the community’s strategic position and attraction as a commercial and tourist area, the company began building business sectors and sites for entertainment and fun outdoor activities.  As a positive indirect effect, 7,000 jobs were brought to the small town, helping it into its boom during most of the early 2000s.

A decade later, development started again on a new neighborhood in Port St. Lucie, the community of Tradition.  Situated just west of the Interstate 95 intersection was a large cattle ranch that offered an ideal location to begin developing a new neighborhood.  The new commercial district encompassed 13,000,000 square feet, and space for over 18,000 residences.

Just after Tradition was built up, the housing market in Florida and the Treasure Coast began to collapse and job opportunities dwindled.  By early 2009, unemployment was at a high and over 10,000 homes went into foreclosure.  These devastating trends prompted the St. Lucie County government to propose declaring itself as a disaster area under federal law.  This would give Port St. Lucie access to county emergency reserve funds to be spent on building projects: research parks, highways and other infrastructure improvements.