Historic Sites in Sebastian, Florida

Eight National Register of Historic Places listings sit in or right beside Sebastian, from Pelican Island in the Indian River Lagoon to two Old Town Sebastian historic districts, a 1920s school, a fish house and a 1715 shipwreck camp.

The National Park Service's NPGallery records give each one an identification number, a listing date and a reason. Together they show what Sebastian's history is built on: a wildlife refuge, a Spanish treasure wreck, a railroad town grid, a school, a pioneer home and the fishing trade on Indian River Drive.

Pelican Island, in the Indian River Lagoon east of Sebastian, carries every level of federal recognition the area has: a 1903 bird reservation, a 1963 National Historic Landmark, a 1966 National Register listing and a 1970 wilderness designation.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service dates the start to March 14, 1903, when President Theodore Roosevelt established Pelican Island as the first federal bird reservation, and Audubon hired Paul Kroegel of Sebastian as its first warden. Because it was the first federal area set aside specifically to protect wildlife, the Secretary of the Interior designated the refuge a National Historic Landmark in 1963. The Ramsar Convention named it a Wetland of International Importance in 1993 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). The National Register record, published October 15, 1966, lists conservation as the area of significance and gives the location as east of Sebastian in the Indian River (NPGallery, Pelican Island).

The island itself is shrinking. Congress made Pelican Island wilderness in 1970 at 5.5 acres, and the Service now puts the island at roughly 3 acres because of boat wakes and sea-level rise, making it the smallest unit of the National Wilderness Preservation System. The refuge around it has grown to over 5,400 acres of wetlands and uplands.

The Old Town Sebastian historic districts are two National Register districts, East (2003) and West (2004), covering the original railroad-era blocks around Main Street, Washington Street, Riverside Drive and the FEC Railroad.

Old Town Sebastian Historic District East was published on August 4, 2003. Its record locates it at Main and Washington Streets, Riverside Drive and the FEC Railroad, gives community planning and development as its area of significance, and spans periods from 1900 to 1974 (NPGallery, Old Town East).

The West district followed on January 6, 2004. It is bounded by Palmetto Avenue, Lake Street and Main Street, and its record reaches back further, to the 1875 to 1899 period, naming 1890 as a significant year (NPGallery, Old Town West).

A district listing covers a setting rather than one building. Neither Old Town Sebastian record names an architect, and both list their architectural styles only as modern movement and other, so the listing rests on how the Sebastian town blocks grew rather than on a single landmark.

Three Sebastian buildings are individually listed: the Bamma Vickers Lawson House on U.S. 1 (1990), the Archie Smith Wholesale Fish Company on Indian River Drive (1994) and the Sebastian Grammar and Junior High School on Main Street (2001).

The Lawson House record, published July 26, 1990, gives exploration and settlement and social history as its significance, with 1911 and 1919 as significant years (NPGallery, Lawson House). Bama Vickers Lawson moved to Sebastian with her parents in 1908 and became known for her milliner and dressmaker business and her personal library, according to the Sebastian River Art Club, whose history page notes a bust of her displayed at the North Indian River County Library (Sebastian River Art Club).

The fish house stands for the working waterfront. The Archie Smith Wholesale Fish Company was listed October 28, 1994 for its significance in commerce, with 1927, 1932 and 1935 as significant years, on Indian River Drive (NPGallery, Archie Smith Fish Company).

The school is now a museum. The Sebastian Grammar and Junior High School, a Mission and Spanish Revival building, was listed August 17, 2001 under architecture and social history (NPGallery, Sebastian Grammar and Junior High School). It houses the Sebastian Area Historical Museum, open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with free admission (Sebastian Area Historical Museum).

Across the Indian River Lagoon from Sebastian, Orchid Island holds two listings: the 1715 Spanish fleet survivors and salvors camp site, listed in 1970, and the Jungle Trail, listed in 2003.

The camp record, published August 12, 1970, keeps its location restricted, as archaeological sites often do, and gives Sebastian as the nearest city (NPGallery, Spanish Fleet camp). A 1974 state marker beside State Road A1A explains the site: survivors of the July 1715 hurricane camped on the island near the wrecked flagship, and salvagers later used the same ground (Florida Division of Historical Resources). The state's McLarty Treasure Museum stands on part of the site and is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Florida State Parks).

The Jungle Trail is a road, listed as a structure. Its record, published August 1, 2003, places it on Orchid Island between Old Winter Beach Road and State Road A1A, names Indian River County as the builder, and gives transportation and entertainment and recreation as its significance (NPGallery, Jungle Trail). The Pelican Island refuge's Centennial Trail is reached from the Jungle Trail.

Four Sebastian-area listings can be visited freely: the Pelican Island refuge trails, the Sebastian Area Historical Museum, the McLarty Treasure Museum and the open streets of Old Town Sebastian.

The Pelican Island refuge is open every day from sunrise to sunset (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Visit Us). The Service manages about seven miles of trails there, including the three-quarter-mile accessible Centennial Trail, whose boardwalk carries more than 569 engraved planks, one for each refuge in the system with its state and year of establishment (Pelican Island trails).

Old Town Sebastian is seen on foot along Main Street and Indian River Drive, where the listed districts, the old school and the fish house sit within a short walk of each other. The two museums keep different days: the Sebastian Area Historical Museum opens Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and the McLarty Treasure Museum Wednesday through Sunday, so Thursday and Saturday are the days both are open. The sources checked give no visiting hours for the Lawson House or the Archie Smith fish house on Indian River Drive.