History of the Fellsmere and Broadway Inns
In March 1910, Edward Nelson and Anne Fell purchased 118,000 acres (184.4 square miles) in the northern part of St. Lucie County (now part of Indian River County), Florida.1 On May 23, 1910, E. Nelson Fell and business associate Oscar Crosby established the Fellsmere Farms Company and held the first board meeting on June 6, 1910.2 The firm of the J.G. White Company was engaged to design the Fellsmere Railroad emanating from the Florida East Coast Railway in Sebastian and extending from there nine miles west to the Town of Fellsmere. The railroad was completed by September 1910.3 The railroad came into Fellsmere just north of South Carolina Avenue. A depot and wooden platform for passengers was built by the Fellsmere Farms Company just north of the South Carolina and Broadway intersection in January 1913.4
Prior to the depot being built, the Fellsmere Farms Company authorized Vice President E. Nelson Fell and General Manager Ernest H. Every to select a hotel site on February 7, 1911.5 By March 26, 1911, the Fellsmere Inn had been built and was receiving guests.6 The Inn had 22 guest rooms, a dining hall, and wraparound porches on the first and second floors when it was first built. It was built very close to the sidewalk on the east side of North Broadway and just north of New York Avenue.7 The Fellsmere Inn was built at a cost estimated to be between $25,000 and $30,000.8
The Fellsmere Farms Company reserved six lots facing North Broadway and two adjoining lots on the east side facing North Pine Street that provided ample room for expansion.9 W. H. La More and J.C. Trimble visited Fellsmere during the week of March 26, 1911, and took quite a number of interesting photographs in the town, of the “Fellsmere Inn”, the new cottages and also of the demonstration farms under the management of R.A. Conkling.10 Mr. W.E. Thorndyke and his daughter from Jacksonville arrived in Fellsmere on January 23, 1911.11 W.E. Thorndyke, a former newspaper man who ran the best and neatest weekly in Colorado for 14 years, was the proprietor of the Fellsmere Inn. The Inn was filled to capacity every day.12
On February 4, 1912, R. G. Mills of Roseland took charge of the Fellsmere Inn after Mrs. Harris resigned.13 Mrs. Harris had apparently taken charge of the Inn after W.E. Thorndyke resigned sometime in 1911, but there is no recorded date when that took place. Mills ran an advertisement in the first edition of the Fellsmere Farmer newspaper on February 21, 1912, which read “While in Fellsmere, Stay at the Fellsmere Inn. Comfortable Rooms and Excellent Cuisine. Within Two Blocks of the Fellsmere Railway Station.”14
Beginning in July 1912, a water main was laid from “Artesian Well No. 1” at the corner of Myrtle Street and New York Avenue to the Fellsmere Inn, a distance of approximately ½ mile.15 In September 1912, Mr. H.C. Benjamin became the manager of the Fellsmere Inn as Mr. R.G. Mills became engaged in other business. Mrs. Benjamin served as the hostess to the Inn.16
In January 1913, the Fellsmere Inn was sold by the Fellsmere Farms Company to Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Arnold of Sebastian who took possession of the property (including the furniture and fixtures) on February 1, 1913. Prior to the Arnolds taking possession of the Inn, the Fellsmere Farms Company had the Inn painted and it was in excellent condition. After purchasing the Fellsmere Inn, the Arnolds moved to Fellsmere.17 Mr. and Mrs. Arnold managed the Inn for several months until May 1913, and then Mr. and Mrs. Plummer of Houlton, Maine leased the hotel temporarily. They Houltons then entered into negotiations to purchase the property. The Fellsmere Farms Company built the Fellsmere Inn for the purpose of taking care of visitors and others during the early days of development. The Fellsmere Farms Company intended to sell, but preferred that the property pass into the hands of someone who thoroughly understood the hotel business.18 By early June 1913, Mrs. Fountain from New York was in charge of the Fellsmere Inn.19
Dr. E. T. Moore, brother of Theodore V. Moore, considered the erection of a substantial business block on the northeast corner of North Broadway and New York Avenue where the Broadway Hotel was located. However, his plan involved moving the hotel to another position on the lots that were partially occupied by it.20
During the following month of July 1913, Theodore V. Moore, a Miami businessman known as “The Pineapple King” bought the Fellsmere Inn. He leased the inn to several managers over the subsequent decade.21 Moore made extensive renovations to the Fellsmere Inn after purchasing it. In September 1914, Mrs. M. Gosch leased the Fellsmere Inn, expecting to open it by October 1, 1914.22 Apparently, her lease was short lived or fell through because the Inn re-opened as the “Broadway Hotel” in October 1914 under the management of S. A. Jordan.23
Also, in October 1914, concrete sidewalks were being built along the east side of Broadway approximately 10 feet out from the property line. At that time, the heart of the business district was between the Fellsmere Railroad Depot at the north end of Broadway and New York Avenue.24
The Fellsmere Tribune edition of January 2, 1915, reported that Walker and Moore had gone into real estate and insurance in the new Moore block at the corner of Broadway and New York Avenue. “They are both live hustlers and will doubtless make things hum in their line.”25
In the beginning of 1915, Theodore Moore hired Frederick H. Trimble, resident architect of Fellsmere at the time, to re-design the Inn and give it a complete makeover. By April 3, 1915, the Broadway Hotel was closed.26 On April 8, 1915, Architect Frederick Trimble began working on the remodeling of the Broadway Hotel transforming it into a business block to occupy a portion of the Moore lots on the northeast corner of North Broadway and New York Avenue. The building was moved and its south side that fronted New York Avenue was rotated to the west to face Broadway and brought out to the property line at the northeast corner of the lots. The building received a thorough overhauling, given a stucco finish and a flat roof. The first floor was divided into four (4) business rooms, the second floor was retained in much of its present arrangement. One of the business rooms was transformed into a bathroom with plunge and shower baths.27 The hotel then not only provided lodging but engaged in local commerce through its businesses such as Frederick Trimble’s architectural office and the real estate and insurance firm Moore and Walker.
By April 24, 1915, the Broadway building, formerly the Broadway Hotel, was successfully moved to its future location in the northwest corner of the Moore property on Broadway. Local contractor A.F. Sanders installed the fronts of four (4) stores that would change the entire appearance of the building.28
After the Broadway Hotel was thoroughly overhauled and painted by Mr. Moore in the Fall of 1914, it underwent further renovation by E.W. Burkholder, Jr., and his wife, who became the new proprietors in February 1915.29
By June 12, 1915, Theodore Moore’s brother, Dr. E.T. Moore, opened the first public swimming pool in what is now Indian River County, in early June 1915 on the east grounds of the Broadway Hotel in early June 1915. The 30 foot by 60 foot pool ranged from two feet to six feet deep, had dressing rooms along the entire west side of the pool. The entire complex was enclosed by a high fence.30
By the end of February 1916, F.G. Scott had moved his hotel business from the Dr. Beckett building due north of the Broadway Inn to occupy the Broadway Hotel.31 On April 17, 1916, the Broadway Hotel changed ownership when F.G. Scott sold it to O. L. Showalter, who had recently arrived in Fellsmere from Delaware.32 A little more than two weeks later, F. G. Scott closed the Broadway Inn for the summer.33 When the Broadway Hotel reopened its doors on September 8, 1916, it opened under the management of Mrs. J. Taylor.34
In November 1916, it was reported that Mrs. J. Taylor was “handling the business of the town in a very satisfactory manner and the promise of success under her management is excellent. Her rooms are neat and clean, her table well supplied with wholesome food, her rates are very reasonable.”35
In May 1917, William Newlon started working on plans for a complete remodeling of the Broadway Hotel to change its “present unattractive appearance exterior” to something more commensurate to the beautiful thoroughfare on which it fronts.36
The Fellsmere Tribune reported on February 15, 1919, that the old Broadway Hotel property would be renovated, and the renovation work would commence within a few days with a view to re-open the hotel for business on or about March 15, 1919.37 A week later in the February 22, 1916 edition, the Fellsmere Tribune reported that “Fellsmere is to have a commercial hotel and one which will be a credit to the town. By this time next week the carpenters, painters, landscape gardeners and other workmen will be hard at work painting, cleaning, renovating and beautifying the building an grounds of the old Broadway Hotel.
The dining room of this hotel will be the large north room on the ground floor which has been used as a Red Cross work room. The room back of the office which was previously used as the dining room will be used as an office and a sitting room. A new kitchen will be erected on the east separate from the building and connected thereto by a colonnade.
Upstairs will be found 12 good sized bedrooms, well-furnished for the comfort of the guests. All the rooms on both floors will be painted and refurbished throughout. The outward appearance of the building will be greatly improved by the placing of an attractive cornice around the roof of the building and erection of a balcony on the west front. The building will be painted a cream color and trimmed with brown, which will blend harmoniously with the surrounding landscape.
The grounds of the hotel will be very beautiful and add greatly to the attractiveness of this proposition and also greatly beautify this section of Broadway. To the north of the hotel, the lots will be cleared and planted Bermuda grass and many tropical shrubs, trees, and flowers will be added to the grounds.
The new hotel will not be an Alcazar or a Ponce de Leon, but will be just the place you will want to stay when you make your visits to Fellsmere. The hotel will not attempt to appeal to those with elaborate tastes and desires, but will be a good, clean, comfortable, home-like hotel with good, plain, well-cooked meals. The cuisine will include Fellsmere grown vegetables, meats, fruits, and Indian River and Atlantic Ocean fish.
It is the desire of the management to give the guests a square deal throughout. Our visitors come here to enjoy winter vegetables, citrus fruits, good Fellsmere meat and salt water fish, and on the table of the Broadway Inn will be found enough of these things so that they will not leave the table hungry.
The Broadway Inn is not to take the place of the tourist hotel which should be worked for, for the coming season, but the Broadway Inn is here for the transient visitors to Fellsmere, and it will be just what they want.38
Three months later in June 1919, A.G. Even of the firm Even and Brunen spent a week putting in cement work and necessary plumbing in the “new” Broadway Hotel.39 A small untitled article appeared in the October 18, 1919 edition of the Fellsmere Tribune stating that “The Broadway Inn which has been in the hands of carpenters and decorators for the past few months will formally opened to the general public for guests on November 1, 1919. The building was attractively painted inside and out and completely furnished and will rank with the best of the small hotels in the state.40
A large article about the Broadway Inn appeared on the front page of the Fellsmere Tribune edition of October 25, 1919, that contained a very detailed description about the remodeled Inn as follows: “Broadway Inn, the very attractive commercial hotel, corner of New York Avenue and Broadway, will be ready for guests on Saturday, November 1st. The first meal served in this delightful hostelry will be breakfast on the morning of the above date. This hotel has, during the past several months been in the hands of carpenters and decorators and presents a very attractive appearance. The outside appearance has been considerably changed, being treated to several coats of colonial yellow paint with trimmings of dark brown. With the addition of a porch on the west front and a broad stairway leading from it to the very attractive grounds, the Broadway Inn gives one the impression of a very neat and delightful hotel.
The inside of the Inn has been greatly altered and improved. The first floor consists of two large office rooms, the hotel office, large dining room, hotel parlor and kitchen, with the necessary china closets and commodious refrigerator room in the rear. The office rooms south of the hotel office will be occupied in a short time, thereby giving a very busy and commercial look to this portion of Broadway.
On the second floor of the Broadway Inn will be found the sleeping apartments, all rooms cool and comfortable, and furnished with the best of taste. The woodwork is all white, as well as the furniture of the bedrooms, and with snowy curtains and gay chintz hangings give a very delightful impression.
The corridor leads to the balcony and stairs which lead down to the beautiful grounds, and the guests will have all the benefit and enjoyment of private grounds. The dining room is to be found on the first floor and the tables are arranged to seat two or four at each. It is well situated from the office and parlor and well lighted. It is to be expected that under the present efficient management, this dining room will serve excellent meals and prove very popular along the transients as well as local winter visitors to Fellsmere. Amid such attractive surroundings all person should be pleased. The tables, choirs, serving tables, and flower stands are all in white, and the touches of color will be found in the beautiful out-of-doors when the mood desires.
The opening of this attractive and comfortable hotel will mean much for Fellsmere and will receive good patronage. Already reservations have been made by people who expect to visit our city in the near future. Especial attention will be paid by the management to providing excellent meals with fresh fruits and vegetables always in order.
The Broadway Inn opens its hospitable doors to the public on November 1st, and makes its bow and bid for patronage, and it is expected to receive the best. The promoters of this hotel have gone to great expense and attention to provide Fellsmere with a strictly up-to-date hotel, one that will be a credit to Fellsmere, and we feel sure that the public will be satisfied with the Broadway Inn.41
The Fellsmere Tribune published an article on the front page of its edition of November 1, 1919, entitled “Broadway Inn Opens Its Hospitable Doors Today”. It stated that “Fellsmere has long needed a strictly up-to-date modern commercial hotel and with the opening today of the Broadway Inn the wishes and desires of the most exacting citizen should be satisfied. The Broadway Inn, situated on the corner of Broadway and New York Avenue, is thoroughly modern throughout, well equipped in every detail for the successful career for which it is destined. The dining room of this hostelry is especially attractive and reminds one of an exquisitely dainty tea room in a large city. Sunday dinners will be a specialty with this hotel and the local people will be especially catered to, for the Broadway Inn will prove to be an attractive Mecca for many local people who wish it success and will give their aid for patronizing it.
The following menu is planned for tomorrow’s dinner and many Fellsmere people as well as visitors will take advantage of it: Tomato Soup, Radishes, Chicken, Veal, Roast, Candide Sweet Potatoes, Peas, Beets, Fruit Salad, Hot Rolls, Cup Custard, Blueberry Pie, Ice Tea and Coffee.”42 Also, in the same edition there was an advertisement which stated “The Management of the Broadway Inn, Fellsmere’s New Hotel, announces its opening to the public on Saturday, November 1, 1919 – all outside rooms, American Plan, and unexcelled cuisine43.”
On Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 1919, the Broadway Inn offered an “enticing” dinner consisting of celery, olives, okra and tomato soup, turkey, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, eggplant, fresh lima beans, frozen salad, mince pie, English plum pudding, raisins, nuts, coffee, and tea. Dinner was served between 1 and 3 p.m.44
The Broadway Inn displayed the Fellsmere’s Grand Prize won at the annual Florida State Fair and Pan American International Farm and Livestock Exposition held the week of November 24th-29th and other exhibits during December 1919. Fellsmere’s award winning exhibit won 26 prizes at the fair. On display were cane sugar, several varieties of corn, cotton, hay, beggarweed, grass, dasheens, pumpkin, squash, and canned goods such as beans and jelly. Almost all exhibits won first prize for the best or largest in their category with some coming in second or third place.45
On March 6, 1920, a large dinner party for winter residents from Maine was held at the Broadway Inn.46 A month later the Broadway Inn announced that it was closing for the season on April 29, 1920, and that a notice of the fall opening date would be made in the future. It also stated that the Inn had been well patronized during the past season and it had been well patronized by many for its cuisine and service and a largely increased business is assured for next year.47
Despite the optimistic forecast, the Broadway Inn went into foreclosure in 1920, and the Fellsmere Company took possession of the Inn.48 On June 26, 1920, the Fellsmere Company ran a half page advertisement in the Fellsmere Tribune stating, “The Broadway Inn, Fellsmere, Florida for Sale or Lease”.49 The ad resumed in the July 17, 1920, edition of the newspaper and ran consecutively for the next four editions until August 14, 1920. On August 28, 1920, an ad appeared stating, “The Broadway Inn Open For Guests, Rates Reasonable, Courtesy and Service Assured, Mrs. J.H. Sutherland, Proprietor.”50 The Sutherlands had a huge poultry ranch named “Canal Place” near the bridge over the Main Canal north of Fellsmere south of the Brevard County line. They had 375 all pure-bred hens consisting of Rhode Island Reds, Oppingtons, and Leghorns.51 By September 1920, the Broadway Inn was growing more popular under the management of Mrs. Sutherland and Sunday dinners were frequented by the local residents.52 Mrs. Sutherland ran ads promoting the Broadway Inn in every consecutive issue of the Fellsmere Tribune from August 28, 1920 to January 29, 1921.
On February 7, 1920, the Carriers took over management from Mrs. Sutherland and offered special chicken dinners on Sunday and special waffle breakfasts “just like mother used to make.”53 They placed an ad in the February 12, 1921 Fellsmere Tribune which read, “Make Your Reservations for Special Chicken Dinners which will be served every Sunday at the Broadway Inn- New Management, Mr. and Mrs. M. A. Carriers.”54 It is not certain whether or not the chickens came from Sutherlands Poultry but that was the largest supplier of poultry in Fellsmere. The Carriers only advertised in the Fellsmere Tribune until March 19, 1921, and then never ran another ad in the Fellsmere Tribune.55 Despite the absence of ads, the Fellsmere Tribune ran a story on its front page on May 14, 1921, that mentioned the second annual banquet of the alumni of the Fellsmere High School was held at the Broadway Inn on May 13, 1921. The Fellsmere Tribune ceased publication on November 12, 1921, however, the Vero Press reported that the Fellsmere Club entertained visiting ladies at a chicken luncheon at the Broadway Inn during the noon day recess on April 16, 1921, and there were guests at the Broadway Inn in March 1922.56
A sketch for the Fellsmere Company dated December 14, 1920, shows the Broadway Inn on Lots 29-36, Block 81. The 60-foot frontage along the east side of Broadway is approximately five (5) feet behind the concrete sidewalk. The north side of the hotel is 55 feet long and the south side is 34 feet long having an outside staircase at the southeast corner. Broadway is shown as a “cement road” and New York Avenue is shown as a “macadam road”. The property that the Inn is located on is shown to be 200 feet long on the east and west sides and 125 feet long on the north and south sides. The building had been rotated 90° in April 1915, so that its original front that once faced New York Avenue then faced Broadway. The 30 foot by 60 foot swimming pool that had been constructed in 1915 did not appear on the sketch nor did the garden on the south side.
After the Fellsmere Tribune ceased publication at the end of 1921, there was not much news reported in other newspapers about Fellsmere. However, the Vero Press did report some Fellsmere news from time to time. The Vero Press reported on February 28, 1924, the old Broadway Hotel was being remodeled and would be renamed as the “Fellsmere Inn”. An addition would double the size of the old building. Also, there would be a large veranda built on two sides of the building.57 In April 1924, the new Fellsmere Inn was nearing completion. The building had been moved back approximately 30 feet from its original location as shown on a sketch dated December 14, 1920.58 This was the second time it had been moved from its original location in 1911, the first time being in April 1915. By May 1, 1924, the new Fellsmere Inn (the old Broadway Hotel) was completed.59
On a personal note, a 28-year-old woman named Laura Hiott went to visit a friend in Fellsmere in September 1928. Unfortunately, she came during the week when the horrendous hurricane of 1928 roared over Florida on September 17 and killed over 4,000 people. Laura and her friend took refuge in the Fellsmere Inn, but the fierce storm broke a window in the room they were staying in. Laura recalled that she and her friend had just gotten out of bed when the flying glass from the window split the sheet on the bed. Undoubtedly, it was an experience she never forgot even in her 95th year of life.60
Five months later in February 1929, the first president of the Fellsmere Farms Company and close associate of Edward Nelson Fell, founder of Fellsmere, came to visit Fellsmere for a few days and stayed at the Fellsmere Inn. Crosby with friends from Warrenton, Virginia, including J. Green Carter who owned the building just north of the Fellsmere Estates Corporation, dined at the Fellsmere Inn for lunch before a sightseeing tour of the Fellsmere property. Their visit was approximately one year after E. Nelson Fell died in March 1928.61
During September 1929, Henry and Fannie Whipple took over the management of the Fellsmere Inn.62 The Whipples, who originally came from West Palm Beach, Florida, built a spacious 10 room house at 80 North Magnolia Street in 1914, which is still there today although it has deteriorated to the point where it is in deplorable condition.63 The Whipples purchased many properties in Fellsmere and Fannie Whipple platted the 46 lot Lincoln Park Subdivision located at the northeast part of Fellsmere on February 27, 1926.64 The Winter Resort Directory for 1929-1930 as published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle listed the Fellsmere Inn as managed by Henry Whipple, 75 as the number of guests, and weekly rates between $17.50 and $25 all year long.65 Henry Whipple and his wife managed the Fellsmere Inn until the summer of 1944 when he retired at age 85. He died at his West Palm Beach home the following year on March 13, 1945.66
In 1931, during the Great Depression, Fellsmere Inn went into foreclosure.67 However, the Inn was soon back in business after the Fellsmere Sugar Company built the sugar mill in 1932. The company saved Fellsmere from economic ruin and the boom created by the mill attracted jobseekers to Fellsmere while the national unemployment was around 25% nationwide. The Fellsmere Inn became a hustling, bustling place, especially for workers who came to work for the Fellsmere Sugar Company.68 On July 12, 1932, the Palm Beach Post reported that Mr. and Mrs. George Brockway and son, Bobbie, returned from a 10-day stay at the Fellsmere Inn.69
Gilbert and Mary Smith moved to Fellsmere on April 8, 1942, after they purchased the Fellsmere Dairy on the east side of town. The Fellsmere Inn was a rooming house and a restaurant. Gilbert said a meal cost $2.00 for all you could eat and if you were well known, you could eat in the kitchen! After Henry Whipple retired from managing the Fellsmere Inn in the summer of 1944, Buddy and Doris Byrd managed the Fellsmere Inn and were some of the Smith’s customers. The Inn had a bar and held square dances.70
A former Mayor of Fellsmere, Tommy Snell, recalled when he came to Fellsmere to work at the Fellsmere Sugar Company as an accountant on February 1, 1947. He and his wife Francis stayed at the Fellsmere Inn which he said was owned by the Fellsmere Sugar Company at the time.71 The manager of the Inn was Doris Goshorn. The Inn had 17 bedrooms upstairs and two restrooms labeled “Ladies” and “Gents” that served all 17 rooms. Just past the front door was a massive dining room that hosted the family style dinners. Off the dining room was a pigeon-hole area where guests picked up their mail. People came from miles around just to eat the meals. The old kitchen’s commercial 10 burner gas stove and grill were later donated to the Fellsmere Volunteer Fire Department by the Freemans who purchased the Inn in 1980.72
On October 29, 1947, members of the Fellsmere and Sebastian softball teams who were the winners and runners-up in the final play-off series to determine the Indian River County championship, were guests of honor at a banquet at the Fellsmere Inn. Approximately 80 people attended. Fred Hoertz, renowned maritime artist who lived in Fellsmere at the time, was the master of ceremonies.73 Also, in the 1940s, Dr. Samuel Moore, who was the uncle of Florida Governor Dan McCarty, would host banquets for high school students at the Fellsmere Inn. As a Doctor of Divinity, Dr. Moore was the pastor of the Fellsmere Community Church in the 1940s.74
The Cincinnati Enquirer in Ohio ran an ad for the Fellsmere Inn in its Sunday, February 5, 1950 edition as follows: “Vacations, Resorts, Cottages – Going to Florida – Stay at Fellsmere Inn, Fellsmere, Fla.: operated by local resident; home cooking; $4.50 per day; Inn located 12 miles from Vero Beach; good fishing center. For further information, write or call Mrs. Nancy Neal, Fellsmere Inn, Fellsmere, Fla., or call AX 7889.75
From 1952 to 1960, Lowell Byrd and his wife ran the Fellsmere Inn for 7-1/2 years. On March 1, 1959, the Fellsmere Development Corporation sold the Fellsmere Inn to the Okeelanta Sugar Refinery, Inc.76 Eight months later, on November 13, 1959, Lowell Byrd requested permission from the Fellsmere City Council to move his liquor license store from the Fellsmere Inn to the Lot 8, Block 150 building to be used as a combination residence, bar, and liquor store.77 Mr. and Mrs. W.D. Parsons, who specialized in “home cooked meals” operated the Inn after the Byrds left.78
During the 1960s and 1970s, the Fellsmere Inn only served meals to boarders during the week but opened up its restaurant to the general public on weekends.79 From1968 to 1971, local resident Beatrice Spivey was a cook at the Fellsmere Inn.80 More than 300 people jammed the Fellsmere Inn for its 1968 Thanksgiving Day feast.81 People from Brevard, Indian River, and St. Lucie Counties frequently dined there.82
On June 17, 1968, the Okeelanta Sugar Refinery, Inc., a dissolved Florida corporation conveyed all of its holdings, including all properties, to the South Puerto Rico Sugar Company. This action included the Fellsmere Inn.83 Seven months later, on January 18, 1969, the South Puerto Rico Sugar Company sold the Fellsmere Inn to John C. Palmer.84 The Palmers hired Jan Goodwin to manage the Inn. She placed the following ad in the Florida Today newspaper on May 2, 1970: “Places to Eat- FELLSMERE INN- country style dining, $1.50 platter week days, $2 weekends. Serving 11 A.M. to 2 P.M. and 5 P.M. to 7 P.M. Full bar and air conditioned lounge. Call for reservations. Sebastian 589-9978. Jan Goodwin, Manager (formerly of Moon Gardens, Cocoa Beach). Room and board $26 a week.” 85 Two days later on May 4th, the Florida Today reported that Fred C. Baker, 67, who resided at the Fellsmere Inn flipped his car into a roadside ditch on South Babcock Street about six miles north of Fellsmere and drowned.86 On May 8, 1970, the Fellsmere Inn advertised a Special Mother’s Day Dinner for $2.00. The dinner included salad, meat, vegetables, bread, dessert, and drink.87
Approximately 17 months after purchasing the Fellsmere Inn on October 2, 1970, John and his wife, Elizabeth, sold the Inn to Ernest and Marie Siebert.88 During the early 1970s, negotiations were underway in the four county area of Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, and Okeechobee Counties to obtain a building for a 100 –bed facility for alcoholics by July 1, 1973. One of the buildings under consideration was the Fellsmere Inn that could house up to 75 beds. Bane Davis, the Director of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program, applied for a grant from the National Institute of Alcohol and Alcohol Abuse to finance the facility.90 However, securing the Fellsmere Inn with grant money never materialized. Instead, Golda and Herbert Velie bought the Fellsmere Inn on September 28, 1972.90
The Velies had visited the Fellsmere Inn in 1972 and found that it was for sale. It had been turned into a bar downstairs and there was some question about what was going on in the 17 bedrooms upstairs. The City of Fellsmere had condemned the building. After buying the Inn, Herbert Velie, who was a carpenter, made repairs such that the condemnation order was lifted by the City. Then the Velies moved their four children and antique shop from Vero Beach into the Fellsmere Inn. They thought of renting rooms for a while but decided against it. Golda Velie said, “God gave us this building and we just use it for Him the best we know how.”91
Ministers who were visiting any of the four churches in Fellsmere at the time were welcome to stay at the Inn. Young people found the Inn a temporary haven. Golda remarked that her and her husband’s beliefs were old-fashioned and fundamental. She believed that, “We are entering an age of belief in things that we cannot see or hear or touch, because the things that have always seemed real-government, education, and commerce-have led to despair and doubt. Everything costs too much. People just have to call on somebody else to help them. They can’t handle it by themselves.”92
On July 15, 1980, the Velies sold the Fellsmere Inn to Alfred and Margaret Freeman.93 Herbert Velie took his first pastor job in Ft. Pierce, so the Velies decided that it would be best for them to move rather than for Herbert to commute to his church. Golda was very sad to go because she had fallen in love with the old Inn and called it her “dream house”. It may have been a small consolation that at least the Velies were selling the Inn to another antique store owner.94
When Margaret and Alfred Freeman bought the Fellsmere Inn, it was gutted. There were 38 broken windows, no landscaping and no railings on the outside.95 After making repairs, the Freemans opened up an antique store in the Fellsmere Inn and named it “The Fellsmere Country Corners Antique Store.”96 She and Alfred moved into and lived in the Inn. In 1990, the Freemans had an outside fireplace built and brick steps installed. Unfortunately, two years later in 1992, Alfred died, but Margaret continued to live in the Inn until 2007. While living there, the Freemans never rented rooms to anyone.97
Margaret Freeman had worked at the Indian River Citrus Bank at the northeast corner of 14th Avenue and 20th Street in Vero Beach, Florida, for 38 years, beginning in 1954 and retiring the year her husband died in 1992. She worked as a bookkeeper, teller, and as a customer service representative. While Margaret was working for the Citrus Bank, she also worked as an antique dealer for 17 years. Margaret trained Andrew Beindorf as a teller in the Citrus Bank. Andrew Beindorf later became instrumental in forming the Indian River National Bank in Vero Beach in 1985.98 The Citrus Bank in Vero Beach was designed by Frederick H. Trimble, the Fellsmere architect who had designed the Fellsmere Public School.99
The Freemans had a wide variety of items in their antique store such as primitive tools, coffee bean grinders, glassware, candle molds, organs, Oriental rugs, hats, shoes, a Victrola, a candy tub, a pie safe for storing cakes and pies, a crystal chandelier, and furniture dating back to 1848. They landscaped the grounds making the property the most attractive corner of Fellsmere. The Freemans had a flea market outside every weekend on both Saturdays and Sundays.100 They even installed a porch swing that people came to the Inn just to sit on.101
Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne in September 2004 and Hurricane Wilma in October 2005 inflicted major damage to the Fellsmere Inn. The hurricanes blew the roof off and blew out the windows on the east side. As a result, there was a lot of water damage inside the Inn. That was when Margaret made the decision to sell the building. She eventually moved to a new apartment on North Willow Street in Fellsmere. She was 81 when she sold the building to Fred and Teri Vanderveer of Marathon, Florida, on November 18, 2005.102
Anne Press of Realty Executive Advantage sought out Fred Vanderveer who had restored old homes in the Keys. She told him that the Fellsmere Inn was the centerpiece of the town. Vanderveer learned from Fellsmere City Manager Jason Nunemaker that the City of Fellsmere was taking steps to condemn the building and have it demolished. That moved him to purchase the property and restore the old historic building.103
One of the first things that Fred Vanderveer did was to get a permit to fix the roof that had blown off. One could literally sleep under the stars because they could be seen through the roof from the upstairs bedrooms. Next, he ripped out six layers of wet and moldy carpet from upstairs. New carpets that had been laid were just installed over the old ones, rather than removing and replacing the existing carpeting. After the several layers of carpeting were ripped out, holes were drilled through the upstairs floor to allow the water to drain out before the roof was repaired.104
During the restoration of the Inn, Tyler Hutchinson, owner of Price Rite Painting, Inc., said that his firm used 230 gallons of high quality paint to paint the entire Inn.105 The kitchen in the rear of the building was renovated and transformed into a huge, fully equipped, modernized, commercial kitchen with a 10 burner gas stove, new stainless sinks, and much stainless steel counter space.106 Fred Vanderveer wanted a service door to be installed as part of the kitchen renovation. Gene Wolack, who was working on installing the door at that time, discovered a 1910, 12- gauge, Crescent single barrel shotgun inside the wall. Gene said that there was no access panel or means to extract the gun without removing the wall. Why the shotgun was inside the wall remains a mystery to this day.107
The bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs were all renovated and restored and a laundry room was added. Several of the bedrooms were converted into two elegant suites. The staircase to the second floor was carpeted and all the pine floors were polished. The bar downstairs in the front now gleams. A Baldwin grand piano graces the entranceway to the dining room located at the southeast corner of the building.108
While the upstairs bedrooms were being renovated, leaks around the windows at the east end of the south side of the Inn necessitated replacement of the wood. When the windowsills were removed in the two back bedrooms, a long rifle and a revolver were found inside the wall in one bedroom and a revolver (fully intact) and another revolver that was in pieces was found in the other bedroom. Before the guns could be safely stored, they mysteriously disappeared and were never found.109 There have been some rumors that circulated around Fellsmere that the infamous Ashley Gang may have stayed at the Fellsmere Inn. While this may be one reason that guns were stored in the back bedrooms near the outside staircase of the Inn, no documentation to date has been discovered to substantiate any credibility the at John Ashley and members of his gang were even in Fellsmere.
In 2023, additional renovations were made by the Vanderveers. These renovations included the addition of two storage sheds, rebuilding the front porch with marine grade pressure treated lumber, replacement of some of the exterior woodwork, repairs to the interior, caulking the entire first and second floors, painting the entire Inn, and installing a fence around the perimeter of the property. In 2024, the Fellsmere Inn was listed with Sotheby’s with an asking price of $1,895,000.110
Fred Vanderveer, and his wife, Teri, have converted one room into a billiard parlor and another into a wine room. The Fellsmere Inn now serves as a large, comfortable, historic private residence for Fred and Teri. Not only have the Vanderveers restored the Inn, they have turned the old Fellsmere Inn into a showcase reminiscent of when Fellsmere was in its heyday during its initial development from 1911 to 1915. However, being a private residence, it is not open to the general public. It can only be admired from the outside, but it still is the “centerpiece” of Fellsmere worthy to look at when in town. It is hoped that whoever purchases the Fellsmere Inn in the future will preserve and maintain it like the Vandeveers have since it is such an important part of Fellsmere’s history.