Indian River County

This collection of vintage postcards depicts Indian River County, Florida, from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s, a time of dramatic change. Even after the West was settled, South Florida remained a frontier. The Indian River Lagoon, the most biodiverse estuary in North America, was then the only avenue for travel for canoes of the indigenous Native Americans, sailing vessels, and steamboats that opened the land to settlers. Today the lagoon is part of the Intracoastal Waterway, and the current civic leaders have ensured the preservation of the county's history by limiting high-rise buildings, protecting trees, and purchasing environmentally sensitive and historically significant properties.