Places In and Around Sebastian, Florida: Communities, Old Town and Public Landmarks

Five neighbors of Sebastian have their own guides in this section: Roseland on the St. Sebastian River, Wabasso, Vero Lake Estates, North Sebastian and the wider Sebastian River Area.

Roseland is older than the name suggests. The state historical marker on Bay Street, placed in 2014, records Dempsey Cain settling on the north side of the St. Sebastian River in 1877 and naming the community on the south bank Roseland for its wild roses. A post office came in 1892, and in 1893 Henry Flagler's East Coast Railway added a depot and water tower. The 1926 Roseland Community Center still stands, built from lumber salvaged from the first bridge across the St. Sebastian River (Florida Division of Historical Resources).

Wabasso grew up the same way, as a water and fuel stop on the Florida East Coast Railway in 1893, and the narrow wooden Wabasso Bridge went up on the site of the old dock in 1925, according to the Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber places Micco on the north side of the St. Sebastian River in South Brevard County, with a post office dating to 1884, and counts Little Hollywood and Barefoot Bay as part of the Micco area (Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce).

Vero Lake Estates has its own Municipal Service Taxing Unit (MSTU). Indian River County Ordinance 84-081, dated December 3, 1984, set up its advisory committee: seven voting members who own property inside the MSTU and serve at the pleasure of the Board of County Commissioners (Indian River County). The Roseland, Wabasso, Vero Lake Estates, North Sebastian and Sebastian River Area guides each take one of these places further.

Old Town Sebastian's National Register district lies along Main Street (National Park Service NPGallery), and the town took the Sebastian name in 1884 after starting out as Newhaven (Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce).

The Chamber's community history says fishing was the mainstay of early Sebastian and that naturalists came for the St. Sebastian River, the Indian River Lagoon and Pelican Island. On the National Register, Old Town Sebastian Historic District, West, is bounded by Palmetto Avenue, Lake Street and Main Street, lists 1890 as its significant year, and its National Park Service record was published Jan. 6, 2004 (National Park Service NPGallery).

The quickest way into that history on foot is the Sebastian Area Historical Society museum at 1235 Main Street, inside the historic Sebastian Elementary School building. It opens Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 11 AM to 2 PM, admission is free, and group tours or other times can be arranged at (772) 581-1380 (Sebastian Area Historical Society). Its three short weekly openings make a call ahead worthwhile before a weekday visit. The Sebastian historic sites guide lists every National Register property in and around Sebastian, from Old Town to Pelican Island.

Sebastian's fishing history is shown at the Sebastian Fishing Museum inside Sebastian Inlet State Park and at the city's working waterfront on the Indian River Lagoon (Florida State Parks).

The Sebastian Fishing Museum is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. seven days a week, except major holidays, and the park's McLarty Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Park admission is $8 per vehicle carrying two to eight people (Florida State Parks). The Sebastian Fishing Museum guide covers the fish house exhibits.

In town, the City of Sebastian built Fisherman's Landing Sebastian with Stan Mayfield Working Waterfronts money. Florida Communities Trust awarded more than $3.1 million in Florida Forever funds for the land, the city put up more than $351,000 in local match and later another $300,000 for purchase and remodel. The two-acre site on the Indian River Lagoon is run with Fisherman's Landing Sebastian, a non-profit working waterfront group, and its old Hurricane Harbor building now holds a fish market and a waterfront museum on Sebastian fishing history (City of Sebastian).

The city page needs reading with a date in mind. It reports the fish piers and fish house restored by the end of 2015 and a public toilet added in early fall 2017, but it still describes a Florida Inland Navigation District project for landscaping, shoreline protection and parking as one that will be constructed in 2020, with no update since (City of Sebastian working waterfront page). The Sebastian riverfront district guide follows what has changed along Indian River Drive since then.

Sebastian's public library is the North Indian River County Library at 1001 Sebastian Boulevard, open Monday to Wednesday 10am to 8pm, Thursday and Friday 10am to 5pm and Saturday 10am to 4pm, and closed Sunday (Indian River County Library System).

The branch phone is (772) 400-6360. It is one of several county outlets: the Indian River County Library System also runs the Main Library in downtown Vero Beach, the Brackett Library on the Indian River State College Mueller Campus, the Marian Fell Library in Fellsmere, a vending library and a law library (Indian River County Library System).

For a Sebastian reader who needs a library on a Sunday, the only county library open on Sunday is the Main Library at 1600 21st Street in Vero Beach, from 1pm to 5pm. The Marian Fell Library in Fellsmere keeps the shortest schedule, Tuesday and Thursday from 1pm to 5pm only (Indian River County Library System). The North Indian River County Library guide covers library cards, ebooks and the programs held at the Sebastian branch.

The five member Sebastian City Council serves as the board of the city's Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) (City of Sebastian CRA).

The Sebastian CRA page explains the money behind it. Florida law, Chapter 163, Part III, lets cities create redevelopment areas after a Finding of Necessity. Property values inside the area are fixed at a frozen value, and taxes on any growth above it go to the CRA trust fund, to be spent only inside the district on items such as streetscapes, parking, sidewalks and neighborhood parks. School board and special district taxes are not affected (City of Sebastian CRA FAQ).

The Sebastian riverfront district guide covers Indian River Drive, the CRA projects and what is changing there. Two subdivision guides, Spirit of Sebastian and Cross Creek Lake Estates, cover newer neighborhoods inside the City of Sebastian. The places of worship guide and the Sebastian River Art Club guide cover two kinds of local institution that the city pages do not list.

Sebastian's walk-in visitor center is the Pelican Porch Visitor's Center on the southeast corner of Main Street and US Hwy 1, open 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday (Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce).

The Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce runs it, and the center is a designated visitor center on the Indian River Lagoon National Scenic Byway and a VISIT FLORIDA Certified Tourism Information Center. Inside are maps, brochures and screens linked to the Sebastian Inlet and Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge webcams, and the porch looks out over the Indian River Lagoon (Pelican Porch Visitor’s Center). Being closed on weekends, it suits a weekday stop; on a Saturday, the Sebastian Area Historical Society museum on Main Street is the open option.

The table below pairs each common question about places around Sebastian with its key fact and the guide that covers it.