Places & landmarks
Fort Pierce, Florida, is a city whose landscape tells its own history. From the site of the 1838 military fort on the Indian River to the restored grandeur of the Sunrise Theatre, every street corner and waterway carries the memory of the people who built this community. The places gathered here are landmarks in the story of Florida's Sunrise City, sites where soldiers camped, where pioneers planted pineapples, where railroads arrived, and where a modern city took shape along one of the most biodiverse estuaries in North America.
Historic Downtown Fort Pierce
From a Seminole War military outpost to a railroad town, downtown Fort Pierce has been the commercial and cultural heart of St. Lucie County for over a century. Discover the Sunrise Theatre, the FEC Railway depot, and the stories behind the historic streetscape.
The Fort Pierce courthouse of 1909: stone, clock and court
The resolution and the four-mill tax that paid for it, the marble cornerstone laid on September 22, 1909 and what was sealed inside, the clock the town raised money for, and the first court in February 1910.
Fort Pierce in 1910: what the town said it had
The list the town printed about itself from 1909 to 1911, from six hotels to two thousand inhabitants, how it changed, and a second count of the same town that does not always agree.
Fort Pierce Farms, 1910 to 1911: the tract and the ditch
A land company's prairie tract northwest of town, sold in forty-acre farms at $30 an acre, and the excavator that cut a drainage canal across it from Taylor Creek in 1911.
Fort Pierce’s waterfront on the Indian River Lagoon
The shore where the fort stood in 1838, the docks and fish houses of the 1900s, the wharfs the 1910 hurricane wrecked, and the marina that stands there now. The town’s side of the lagoon.
More notable places in Fort Pierce
Beyond its historic downtown and the waters of the Indian River Lagoon, Fort Pierce is home to landmarks that reflect its military past, its cultural life, and its natural setting. Each site offers a different window into the story of this Treasure Coast community.
Sunrise Theatre
Built in 1923 as a vaudeville and motion picture palace, the Sunrise Theatre at 117 South Second Street was the cultural centerpiece of Fort Pierce for decades. After falling into disrepair and closing in 1983, the theater was meticulously restored and reopened in 2006, and is now a performing arts venue. Its Mediterranean Revival facade is an example of 1920s theater design. Read more about the Sunrise Theatre in our downtown history article.
National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum
Located on North Hutchinson Island at 3300 North Highway A1A, the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum stands on the very beaches where the U.S. Navy's Underwater Demolition Teams trained during World War II. Fort Pierce was selected as the training site in 1943, and the frogmen who trained here became the predecessors of today's Navy SEALs. The museum preserves this chapter of both military and local history. It is the only museum dedicated to the Navy SEALs that is recognized by the Department of the Navy.
Fort Pierce Inlet State Park
Situated on the northern tip of Hutchinson Island, Fort Pierce Inlet State Park encompasses 340 acres of coastal hammock, dunes, and beach along the inlet that connects the Indian River Lagoon to the Atlantic Ocean. The park occupies land that was once part of the World War II naval training grounds. Today it offers surfing and provides habitat for sea turtles, shorebirds, and a rich diversity of coastal wildlife connected to the broader Indian River Lagoon ecosystem.
Heathcote Botanical Gardens
Established in 1985 on a 3.5-acre site at 210 Savannah Road, Heathcote Botanical Gardens features a Japanese garden, a palm walk, a subtropical fruit garden, and native plant collections. The gardens honor the memory of the Heathcote family, early settlers who contributed to the agricultural development of the region. The site serves as a living museum of the tropical and subtropical plant species that have shaped the landscape and agricultural industries of the Treasure Coast.
St. Lucie County Regional History Center
The Regional History Center preserves artifacts, photographs, and documents tracing the history of St. Lucie County from the Ais people through the Seminole Wars, the pioneer era, and into the twentieth century. Its collections are an essential resource for researchers, genealogists, and anyone seeking to understand the deep roots of the Fort Pierce community.
Old Fort Park
Located along the Indian River in downtown Fort Pierce, Old Fort Park marks the approximate site of the original military fortification established in 1838 during the Second Seminole War. A historical marker commemorates Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Kendrick Pierce, for whom the fort and the city were named. The park offers views across the Indian River Lagoon and serves as a quiet reminder of the city's origins as a frontier outpost.
These places, along with the many other historic sites scattered throughout Fort Pierce and St. Lucie County, form a living map of the region's past. Whether you are a lifelong resident, a genealogy researcher, or a visitor passing through, the landmarks of Fort Pierce invite you to look more closely at the layers of history beneath the surface of this Treasure Coast city.