J.E. Fultz

P.C. Eldred

W.R. Lott

Raymond Ford

Bill Baggett

Roger Poitras

Douglas Dixon

JoAnne Holman

Edwin M. Fry Jr.

Joseph E. Smith

1905 - 1916

1917 - 1932

1933 - 1950

1950 - 1950

1951 - 1960

1961 - 1986

1986 - 1992

1992 - 2004

2005 - 2008

2009 - Pres.

After almost two hundred and fifty years of Spanish settlement, on July 10, 1821, the United States of America officially took control of Florida. In that same year, St. John's County was carved from the land of east Florida. In 1824, Mosquito County was created, aptly named for the abundance of the bothersome insects.

Santa Lucia County was formed from Mosquito in 1844. The county was named for St. Lucie of Syracuse, a Roman Catholic Saint born in Sicily and executed in 304 AD for being a Christian. Caleb Brayton was elected its first county clerk. By December eighty-nine citizens petitioned for a road to be opened and established from St. Augustine to St. Lucie to facilitate the movement of families, stock, and supplies.

With a population of 163, boundaries were again changed in 1855, and the county became known as Brevard County. The county seat was established near the site of the old Fort Pierce, which had burned down by December of 1843 after having been established in January of 1838. All of the officials lived in the area, which was opposite the Indian River Inlet, currently known as the Ft. Pierce Inlet. This site gave easy access to the rest of the state. However, politics continued and the county seat was moved to several different locations over the next several years. Titusville became the county seat in 1879 and remains so for Brevard County to this day.

Judge of the Circuit Court was Minor S. Jones who "encountered many problems when forming a jury." "Every able-bodied voter went hunting or fishing, or just disappeared when court was in session." The judge often picked up prospective jurors along the way, or sent the sheriff to bring in a jury. In the early days, county court business was small.

St. Lucie County was carved out of Brevard County and was officially created effective July 1, 1905. The new St. Lucie County was credited $5,721 from the Brevard County treasury at the time of its creation. That meant that the new county had that much and no more with which to begin doing business. The sum included the following: general fund, $1,116; road and bridge fund, $356, fine and forfeiture, $3,783; feeding prisoners, $141, and game warden, $76. Taxable valuation of property in the new county amounted to $2,939,155, partially divided into: real estate, $954,150; personal $108,820; railroad mainline, $262,460; railroad sidings, $11,560, rolling stock, $54,871; I.O. Tel. Co., $762; and cable line, $236. Ft. Pierce, which had incorporated as a city in February of 1901 with sixty-six qualified voters in the town area, became the County Seat. Ft. Pierce was the largest town in the area and a business center with shipping and railroad depots.

John Enos Fultz, Jr., became the first Clerk of the Court for the newly formed St. Lucie County. In 1891, having recently lost his wife and having his home in Rockledge destroyed by fire, Fultz homesteaded one hundred sixty acres on Winter Creek, now called Blakeslee Creek, which feeds into the North Fork of the St. Lucie River. The area became known as Spruce Bluff. Fultz rowed and sailed the St. Lucie River to Stuart and back to deliver mail. He was paid $10 a month. By 1905, Fultz had moved with his second wife and family to Ft. Pierce where he became Clerk.

The population of St. Lucie County was 4,075 in 1910. By 1917, however, Okeechobee City, with a thriving area of large fishing and cattle raising operations, broke away from St. Lucie County, creating a new county with parts from Osceola and Palm Beach counties. By 1920, after splitting with Okeechobee County, the population had increased to 7,886 people.

But in 1925 the Vero area was rapidly developing. Their leaders were agitating for separation. When some of Vero's leading citizens were arrested by the sheriff for attending a movie in Ft. Pierce on a Sunday, feelings became stronger. At that time, no businesses or stores were to be open on Sundays. Ft. Pierce appointed committees and petitions were signed to fight the county division bill. Within a week, a Martin County bill was also introduced to take an eight-mile slice from the south end of St. Lucie County, adding it to land from Palm Beach County. Again, more local protestors went to Tallahassee, but it was a repeat of the Vero action. On May 30, 1925, Governor John W. Martin signed bills to form Indian River County and Martin County.

By 1930, after losing areas to the new Martin and Indian River counties, and while in the midst of the Depression, the St. Lucie County population fell to 7,057 persons. An increase was shown in 1940 to 11,871. By 1950 the population had risen to 20,180, and ten years later, in 1960, the population had climbed to 39,294. The county continues to grow, with the population as of the 2000 census being 187,000 persons.