The name "St. Lucie" is originally derived from the name of a settlement near Jupiter Inlet which was founded on St. Lucia's day in 1566. Due to numerous errors, the name later came to be associated with the present day town of St. Lucie Village, Florida, north of present-day Port St. Lucie. After "La Florida" and "St. Augustine," it is the oldest still-in-use European place name in the United States.[12] In the early 1890s, an early pioneer settlement named Spruce Bluff was located along the St. Lucie River, which consisted of a community of several families with a school, post office, pineapple plantation, and sawmill. Currently, the land the settlement was located on is part of the Spruce Bluff Preserve. Along with an old cemetery near the old settlement, the preserve also contains a hiking area, canoe access, observation areas, and a prehistoric AisIndian mound located on the southern end of the preserve.
In the 1950s, the land that would eventually become Port St. Lucie was a largely uninhabited tract of land south of White City, composed of a fishing camp (Burt Pruitt's Fishin' Farm) along the St. Lucie River,[13] a few farms and businesses near U.S. 1. In 1958, with a budget of $50 million, the General Development Corporation (GDC) purchased the River Park development and 40,000 acres (160 km2) along the North Fork of the St. Lucie River.[14] In 1959, the GDC opened its first bridge over the St. Lucie River, allowing for direct automobile access to Port St. Lucie.
By February 25, 1961, there were 250 homes in the new city. GDC requested the state legislature to incorporate 70 miles (110 km), along with the River Park settlement, into the City of Port St. Lucie. River Park did not incorporate into the city at the request of its residents. Port St. Lucie became a city on April 27, 1961, with the passage of House Bill No. 953, proposed by State Representative Rupert Smith and approved by Florida Governor C. Farris Bryant.[2][15]
In the early 1990s, Core Communities (CC), acquired and began planning what would become St. Lucie West. Originally, St. Lucie West was to have contained about 14,000 homes over a 20-year period on 7 square miles (18 km2). But after realizing the community's strategic position, they began developing it into more than just a residential area. CC began building business sectors and places of entertainment and leisure. That resulted in 7,000 jobs being brought to the small town, helping it into its boom during most of the early 2000s.[citation needed]
In 2006, CC started development of its newest community, Tradition. The community, which sits west of the Interstate 95 interchange with Gatlin Blvd., was a large cattle ranch before CC began to develop it. There they built around 13,000,000 square feet (1,200,000 m2) of commercial area, and room for over 18,000 residences. According to CC's website, Tradition is the largest fully entitled residential development area from the tip of Interstate 95 to the Canada–U.S. border. It is modeled after a 1950s-era town. According to its website, Tradition Square, the town center of the community, holds festivities year-round. It was also chosen as the site of HGTV'sGreen Home in 2009.[16]
In 2007, the housing market began to collapse and unemployment started to rise. As of February 2009, unemployment was at 10½ percent and in 2008, nearly 11,000 homes went into foreclosure. This prompted the county government to consider declaring itself a disaster area. Doing so would have given county administrators access to $17 million in county emergency reserve funds. That money, combined with a transportation fund and other accounts, would give St. Lucie $20 – $30 million to spend on building projects: research parks, highways and other infrastructure improvements.[17]
In 2008, Tradition and Core Communities welcomed the Florida Center of Innovation (later renamed Tradition Center for Innovation), a 150-acre privately owned research park dedicated to drug discovery, immunology and medical devices, and healthcare. TCI initially composed of Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, Oregon Health and Science University's Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute (VGTI), Martin Health System Hospital (Tradition Medical Center), and Mann Research Center. In 2015, VGTI shut down their TCI facility, and Mann Research Center soon followed. As of 2019, only Torrey Pines and Tradition Medical Center remain in TCI.
In 2017, TAMCO, a subsidiary of City Electric Supply, a family-owned electrical wholesale business, created plans with the Port St. Lucie City Council to construct a $38 million, 400,000 square foot manufacturing and distribution center located in the Tradition Commerce Park.[18] Construction of the TAMCO facility began in 2018 and was completed in late 2019.[19]
Geography
The PGA Village golf complex is in the Veranda neighborhood.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 76.7 sq mi (198.6 km2), of which 75.5 sq mi (195.6 km2) is land and 1.2 sq mi (3.0 km2) (1.50%) is water.[20]
Neighborhoods
Beginning in late 2019, Port St. Lucie began naming different neighborhoods throughout the city. As of 2020, there are 33 neighborhoods in Port St. Lucie:[21]
Port St. Lucie is located in the broad transition zone between a humid subtropical climate (Cfa), which dominates Central Florida, and within the northern extent of the tropical climate typical of South Florida. Summers are usually hot, with high temperatures averaging in the low 90s. Winters are usually mild to warm, with average high temperatures in the 70s. The average yearly precipitation is around 53.5 in.[22]
In 2004 and 2005, Port St. Lucie was hit directly by three hurricanes: Frances (Category 2), Jeanne (Category 3), and Wilma (Category 3).
Port St. Lucie, Florida – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 204,851 people, 68,241 households, and 51,199 families residing in the city.[29]
As of the 2010 United States census, there were 164,603 people, 56,408 households, and 41,785 families residing in the city.[30]
2000 census
As of the census of 2000, there were 88,769 people, 33,909 households, and 25,736 families residing in the city. The population density was 453.7 people/km2 (1,175 people/sq mi). There were 36,785 housing units at an average density of 188.0 units/km2 (487 units/sq mi). In 2000, the population was 87.88% White, 7.09% Black or African American, 0.23% Native American, 1.24% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.77% from other races, and 1.76% from two or more races. 7.52% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
In 2000, 31.6% of households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.8% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.1% were non-families. Of all households 18.2% were made up of individuals, and 8.9% had someone living alone who was aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 2.94.
In 2000, the city's population was spread out, with 24.3% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 18.8% who were 65 or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.4 males.
As of 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $40,509, and the median income for a family was $44,162. Males had a median income of $31,730 versus $23,702 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,059. 7.9% of the population and 5.7% of families were below the poverty line, including 11.1% of those under age 18 and 5.8% of those age 65 or over.
Port St. Lucie is served by the St. Lucie Transportation Planning Organization (TPO).[32] The TPO is a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), a federally mandated and federally funded transportation policy-making organization responsible for transportation planning, programming, and financing of State and Federal Transportation Funds for the City of Port St. Lucie. The TPO is governed by a TPO Board, which is composed of elected officials, representatives from the St. Lucie County School Board, and representatives from Community Transit, a division of The Council on Aging of St. Lucie, Inc.[33]
The original bus system started out as a demand response service bus in the 1990s, it only served St. Lucie County. Soon it expanded to a fixed route system, serving predetermined locations along a route. On June 3, 2002, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) approved funding, expanding the bus service to Martin County, and became the Treasure Coast Connector. In 2020, the bus service changed its name to Area Regional Transit (ART); buses run on eight routes, five of which serve Port St. Lucie.[34]
Expressways
Florida's Turnpike (State Road 91) is the only toll road in St. Lucie County, which is the northernmost place where the Turnpike and Interstate 95 run close to each other. The Turnpike has 2 exits within Port St. Lucie's city limits: Exit 142 (Port St. Lucie Boulevard (SR 716)) and exit 138 (Becker Road). For all of its route through Port St. Lucie, the Turnpike is east of I-95. The Turnpike is 4 lanes wide (2 in each direction), and provides access to Orlando to the north, and Miami to the southeast. The Port St. Lucie/Ft. Pierce Service Plaza is also located in Port St. Lucie.
Interstate 95 (State Road 9) is in the western portion of the city. It is 6 lanes wide (3 in each direction), and provides access to Jacksonville to the north, and Miami to the south. Exits within PSL's city limits are exit 126 (CR 712/Midway Road), exit 121 (St. Lucie West Blvd.), exit 120 (Crosstown Parkway), exit 118 (Gatlin Blvd./Tradition Pkwy.), and exit 114 (Becker Rd.).[35]
Major roadways
Port St. Lucie is responsible for maintaining approximately 912.5 miles (1,468.5 km) of roadway within its city limits.
U.S. 1 (State Road 5) – Running the entire length of the state, its route through the city extends from the Martin/St. Lucie County line to the south to Midway Road at the northern limits of the city. This stretch of US 1 contains mostly strip malls and shopping centers. On the southeast corner of US 1's intersection with Walton Road/Veterans Memorial Blvd., is the MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Event Center, which was once envisioned as the center of the city's 'downtown'. As of today, the area around the Event Center remains mostly undeveloped.
Crosstown Parkway – Completed in October 2019, Crosstown Parkway is an east/west roadway connecting Interstate 95 (State Road 9) with U.S. 1 (State Road 5). Along with being a much-needed high-capacity third crossing of the North Fork of the St. Lucie River (Port St. Lucie Blvd. to the south, and Prima Vista Blvd. to the north being the other two), it is also the location of Florida's first superstreet intersection—also known as a "restricted-crossing U-turn intersection"—at Crosstown Parkway and Floresta Drive.
SR 716 – The state road portion of Port St. Lucie Boulevard (commonly shortened to PSL Blvd.) connects US 1 with Florida's Turnpike.
Rail
The Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) mainline passes through the extreme eastern parts of the city.
FEC's K Branch passes through the northwestern part of the city. Both rail lines only pass through the city; no services are provided by the FEC inside Port St. Lucie's city limits.
Sports
The baseball stadium of Clover Park. It was built in time for the 1988 season and holds 7,160 people
The PGA Village golf complex includes 54 holes of golf as well as a learning center and a historical center. The city also hosted the Ginn sur Mer Classic at Tesoro, the city's first ever PGA Tour event, in 2007.[36]
The city has two soccer clubs, Mako Soccer Club and Port St. Lucie Soccer Club, that field both competitive and recreational teams at several age levels. The Treasure Coast Tritons soccer team also play in the city at the South County Stadium, starting in the 2019 season.[37]
Port St. Lucie is the home of the 2009 & 2011 National Champions in Pop Warner football. In 2009, the Jr. Midget Pirates went 16–0 en route to winning the Pop Warner National Championship at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex.[38] In 2001, the Jr. Peewee Pirates went 17–0 in winning the National Championship.[39]
A fictional version of Port St. Lucie is the setting for the Japanese manga and animeJoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 6: Stone Ocean in which the protagonist is imprisoned in the fictional Green Dolphin Street Prison located just outside of the city.
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