Winter Beach in Vero Beach, Florida

No: Winter Beach is a separate community from the City of Vero Beach, and the Census Bureau tabulates it on its own as the Winter Beach CDP, a census-designated place.

The 2020-2024 American Community Survey counts 4,985 residents there. County services reach it from Indian River County: the county's Winter Beach Customer Convenience Center stands at 3955 65th St, an address that carries a Vero Beach, FL 32967 mailing line even though the community is not part of the city.

The community sits on the mainland side of the Indian River, across from Orchid Island. Its two state historical markers give the clearest reference points. The Winter Beach Pioneer Cemetery marker, placed in 2021, stands on 44th Court between 67th Street and 71st Street, and the 2019 Quay/Winter Beach Bridge Road marker describes a route running from 69th Street on the mainland east to Winter Beach Bridge Road on Orchid Island and on to A1A.

Winter Beach began as Woodley in 1893, took the name Quay by the 1900s and became Winter Beach during the 1920s, according to the 2021 state marker.

Winter Beach has had three names. The 2021 cemetery marker says the Indian River region drew pioneer settlers even before Florida became a state, mostly farmers seeking land to grow winter crops such as beans, cabbage and tomatoes, who later turned to pineapples and citrus. Some settled on the barrier island, some on the western shore of the Indian River, and some on the sandy dunes of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge. Woodley, established in 1893, was one of these communities. By the 1900s it had grown and changed its name to Quay, and during the 1920s the name was changed again to Winter Beach.

The older names survive in the records. The bridge marker still uses the middle name, describing the 1923 road as running from Quay, later renamed Winter Beach, toward the barrier island. Among the local history holdings in the Archive Center and Genealogy Department of the Indian River County Main Library, the 1927 Vero Beach City Directory carries a separate Winter Beach index of residents on pages 168 and 169, alongside indexes for Gifford, Wabasso, Fellsmere, Sebastian and Roseland.

The Winter Beach Cemetery is the pioneer burial ground on the Atlantic Coastal Ridge, assigned in 1896 to the Woodley Trustees.

The Winter Beach Cemetery is the oldest public institution of the community. According to the state marker, citizens donated land for communal needs from the community's origin, most notably a cemetery, and the site was placed on the dune line of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge because that ridge reminded many settlers of the hills and mountains of their previous homes. In 1896 the cemetery was officially assigned to the Woodley Trustees, which later became the Winter Beach Cemetery Association. The marker calls it the final resting place for the community's original settlers and their descendants.

The Winter Beach cemetery and the community share their history on a single 2021 marker, which places the burial ground on 44th Court between 67th Street and 71st Street. The marker also explains why the settlers were there at all: farmers drawn to the Indian River region to grow winter crops, who later became known for pineapples and citrus.

The Quay to Orchid Island road was a 1923 route with bridges that crossed the Indian River at the Narrows, linking Winter Beach to Jungle Trail.

For a quarter century Winter Beach was a gateway to the beach. The 2019 state marker explains that in the early 20th century the Indian River was a highway, with few roads and no bridges from the mainland to the barrier islands in the Indian River County area. In 1923 a road with bridges was opened, crossing the river at the Narrows. It ran from Quay eastward to Hole-in-the-Wall Island, across the southern tip of Pine Island and over the main channel to join Jungle Trail on Orchid Island. Developers and tourists came over the narrow road and rickety bridges looking to build winter homes near the Atlantic beaches, while Orchid Island settlers sent winter vegetables and citrus back across to the mainland to be loaded onto the Florida East Coast Railway.

The crossing did not last. A bridge tender opened a metal swing span over the main channel, and Bridge Tender Park now occupies the site of the tender's home at the eastern end. After World War II the Winter Beach Bridge burned, the metal span was removed and only the pilings remained. The marker notes that Winter Beach Road and its bridge alignments are listed as one of Indian River County's Scenic and Historic Roads.

The census shows Winter Beach as a small, older and comparatively affluent community next to Indian River County as a whole.

The 2020-2024 American Community Survey counts 1,716 households in the Winter Beach CDP, which average 2.90 persons, about 25 percent more than the 2.33 persons per household in Indian River County. The CDP has 1,787 housing units, and the median value of owner-occupied homes there is $472,200, about 1.3 times the county median of $351,500.

Income runs high by household and lower per person in Winter Beach. Median household income is $92,394, about 25 percent above the Indian River County figure of $73,491, while per capita income is $40,631, below the county's $48,370. The median age is 57.6, a little above the county's 55.3. Because the CDP is small, each estimate carries a wide margin of error: plus or minus $25,500 on median household income, $29,225 on median home value and 6.8 years on median age.

Winter Beach residents use the county's Winter Beach Customer Convenience Center at 3955 65th St, one of five drop-off centers on the Indian River County Solid Waste Disposal District list.

The other four are Roseland, Gifford, Oslo and Fellsmere, and the Gifford center sits at 4901 41st St. The county says the centers are open 7:00 am to 6:00 pm, are for residential use only and are closed on New Year's Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

The county page posts two different weekly closures, and they do not agree. Its general notice says all centers are closed on Wednesday, while its location table lists the Winter Beach center, like Roseland and Gifford, as closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Until the county reconciles the two, a Tuesday visit is worth confirming by phone with the county at 772-567-8000.

Beyond what goes in the curbside recycling cart, the Winter Beach center and the others take household hazardous waste such as rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, fluorescent light bulbs, motor oil, water- and oil-based paints, items containing mercury and medical sharps. Construction and demolition debris is chargeable and must go directly to the county landfill at 1325 74th Ave SW, which the county lists as open seven days a week from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Last verified: October 15, 2026, for Winter Beach, by re-reading both Florida Department of State marker records, the county library's IRC History index list, the Solid Waste Disposal District convenience center page and the Census Bureau's ACS 2020-2024 detailed tables for the Winter Beach CDP and Indian River County.