2440 SE Federal Hwy, Stuart, Florida 34994, United States
Tel. 1.772.227.0577 or 1.305.525.8957
Injury lawyer in Stuart Jupiter St. Lucie Vero Beach Jensen
Experienced and Dedicated Lawyer in St. Lucie County
I am Lawyer in Stuart / Abogado en Stuart Personal Injury Lawyers, a skilled attorney with over 26 years of experience of personal Injury Law. My clients have ranged from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, and I have a proven track record of success in the courtroom and in settlement negotiations. I am dedicated to providing personalized legal services tailored to the unique needs of each client, and I am committed to achieving the best possible outcome for every case.
St. Lucie County (Spanish: Condado de Santa Lucía) is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 329,226.[2] The county's seat is Fort Pierce, while the largest city is Port St. Lucie, making up 62% of the county's population.[3] St. Lucie County is the principal county of the Port St. Lucie, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Port St. Lucie is a city in St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. It is the most-populous municipality in the county and the sixth-most populous city in Florida, with a population of 204,851 at the 2020 census. It is located 125 miles (201 km) southeast of Orlando and 113 miles (182 km) north of Miami.[6][7] It is a principal city in the Port St. Lucie metropolitan statistical area, which includes St. Lucie and Martin Counties,[8] and as of 2021 had an estimated population of 502,521.[9] Port St. Lucie is also a principal city in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Port St. Lucie combined statistical area,[10] which had an estimated population of 6,841,100 as of 2021.[11]
The area was originally inhabited by the Ais tribe, a hunter-gatherer culture whose territory extended from south of the St. John's river to the St. Lucie Inlet. Spanish explorers frequently encountered the fierce tribe as the Spanish treasure routes ran parallel in order to take advantage of the strong Gulfstream current. The area was given several names by the Spanish including Rio de Ays (later changed to Indian River) as well as Santa Lucia, named after the short-lived late 16th-century Spanish fort that bore its name farther south. The fabled 1715 Spanish treasure fleet sank off the area that is now St. Lucie County, leading to the regional naming of the area as the Treasure Coast.
During the early 19th century, the Spanish government issued several land grants in the area, one of which went to settler James Hutchinson. The grant contained 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) and today the barrier island Hutchinson Island still retains his name. During the mid-1800s, Seminoles and runaway slaves sought refuge in the virtually uninhabited area. By 1837 the Second Seminole war had broken out in Florida. In December 1837, a group of soldiers under the command of Lt. Colonel Benjamin K. Pierce sailed down the Indian River and established a fort, naming it after their commander. Today the county seat of St. Lucie County is still known as Fort Pierce. In 1841, the United States government began issuing land grants under the Armed Occupation Act to Americans who were willing to settle the area. Several of these grants were within the boundaries of today's St. Lucie County. The Third Seminole War in 1851 saw the building of a second major American fort in the area, Fort Capron, located in the area that is today's St. Lucie Village.
Airports
- St. Lucie County International Airport, a general aviation airport. The nearest commercial airports are in Melbourne, Vero Beach, and West Palm Beach.
Major highways
editMain article: List of county roads in St. Lucie County, Florida
Public bus service
St. Lucie County is served by the St. Lucie Transportation Planning Organization (TPO).[13] The TPO is a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), a federally mandated and federally funded transportation policy-making organization responsible for transportation planning, programming, and financing of State and Federal Transportation Funds for St. Lucie County. The TPO is governed by a TPO Board, which is composed of elected officials, representatives from the St. Lucie County School Board, and representatives from Community Transit, a division of The Council on Aging of St. Lucie, Inc.[14] The original bus system started out as a demand response service bus in the 1990s, it only served St. Lucie County. Soon it expanded to a fixed route system, going to predetermined locations along a route. On June 3, 2002, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) approved funding, expanding the bus service to Martin County, and became the Treasure Coast Connector.[15][16]
Passenger trains
Until 1968, the Florida East Coast Railway provided service between Jacksonville and Miami, with stops in Fort Pierce and Jensen Beach. Until 1963, long-distance passenger trains of the Illinois Central (the City of Miami) and the Louisville and Nashville (the Dixie Flagler and the South Wind) from Chicago, and the Atlantic Coast Line from New York City (the East Coast Champion, the Havana Special, and the winter-only Florida Special), made stops in Fort Pierce.[17][18]
In 2023, Brightline, an inter-city rail route that currently runs between Miami and Orlando, announced that it was looking for a site for a new station on the Treasure Coast.[19] As of 2024, there are no plans to add a station in St. Lucie County, but rather in nearby Martin County for the Stuart station.
Expressways
Florida's Turnpike (State Road 91) is the only toll road in St. Lucie County, which is the northernmost place where the Turnpike and Interstate 95 run close to each other. The Turnpike has two exits within Port St. Lucie's city limits: Exit 142 (Port St. Lucie Boulevard (SR 716)) and exit 138 (Becker Road). For all of its route through Port St. Lucie, the turnpike is east of I-95. The Turnpike is four lanes wide , and provides access to Orlando to the north, and Miami to the southeast. The Port St. Lucie/Ft. Pierce Service Plaza is also located in Port St. Lucie.
Interstate 95 (State Road 9) is in the western portion of the city. It is six lanes wide, and provides access to Jacksonville to the north, and Miami to the south. Exits within the city's limits are exit 126 (CR 712/Midway Road), exit 121 (St. Lucie West Blvd.), exit 120 (Crosstown Parkway), exit 118 (Gatlin Blvd./Tradition Pkwy.), and exit 114 (Becker Rd.).[37]
Major roadways
Port St. Lucie is responsible for maintaining around 912.5 miles (1,468.5 km) of roadway within its city limits.
U.S. 1 (State Road 5) – Running the entire length of the state, its route through the city extends from the Martin/St. Lucie County line to the south to Midway Road at the northern limits of the city. This stretch of US 1 contains mostly strip malls and shopping centers. On the southeast corner of US 1's intersection with Walton Road/Veterans Memorial Blvd., is the MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Event Center, which was once envisioned as the center of the city's "downtown". As of today, the area around the Event Center remains mostly undeveloped.
Crosstown Parkway – Completed in October 2019, Crosstown Parkway is an east/west roadway connecting Interstate 95 (State Road 9) with U.S. 1 (State Road 5). Along with being a much-needed, high-capacity, third crossing of the North Fork of the St. Lucie River (Port St. Lucie Blvd. to the south, and Prima Vista Blvd. to the north being the other two), it is also the location of Florida's first superstreet intersection—also known as a "restricted-crossing U-turn intersection"—at Crosstown Parkway and Floresta Drive.
SR 716 – The state-road portion of Port St. Lucie Boulevard (commonly shortened to PSL Blvd.) connects US 1 with Florida's Turnpike.
Rail
The Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) mainline passes through the extreme eastern parts of the city. FEC's K Branch passes through the northwestern part of the city. Both rail lines only pass through the city; no services are provided by the FEC inside Port St. Lucie's city limits
2020 census
The 2020 United States census counted 329,226 people, 128,997 households, and 88,835 families in St. Lucie County, Florida.[30][31] The population density was 575.9 per square mile (222.4/km2). There were 147,884 housing units at an average density of 258.7 per square mile (99.9/km2).[31][32] The racial makeup was 58.38% (192,202) white or European American (53.62% non-Hispanic white), 20.17% (66,407) black or African-American, 0.42% (1,398) Native American or Alaska Native, 1.77% (5,818) Asian, 0.06% (185) Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian, 6.73% (22,160) from other races, and 12.47% (41,056) from two or more races.[33] Hispanic or Latino of any race was 20.14% (66,320) of the population.[34]
Of the 128,997 households, 27.5% had children under the age of 18; 49.0% were married couples living together; 26.9% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. 24.5% of households consisted of individuals and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[31] The average household size was 2.7 and the average family size was 3.2.[35] The percent of those with a bachelor’s degree or higher was estimated to be 16.6% of the population.[36]
19.9% of the population was under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 21.7% from 25 to 44, 26.9% from 45 to 64, and 24.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.0 males.[31] For every 100 females ages 18 and older, there were 108.9 males.[31]
The 2016-2020 5-year American Community Survey estimates show that the median household income was $55,237 (with a margin of error of +/- $1,568). The median family income was $62,950 (+/- $2,262).[37] Males had a median income of $35,327 (+/- $1,197) versus $26,564 (+/- $1,036) for females. The median income for those above 16 years old was $30,891 (+/- $541).[38] Approximately, 9.0% of families and 13.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.0% of those under the age of 18 and 10.2% of those ages 65 or over.[39][40]
2010 census
As of the census[41] of 2010, there were 277,789 people, 108,523 households, and 74,963 families residing in the county. The population density was 485.7 people per square mile. There were 137,029 housing units at an average density of 239.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 71.8% White, 19.1% African American, 0.4% Native American, 1.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 4.5% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 16.6% of the population.
According to the 2015 American Community Survey, 90.7% spoke English, 14.6% Spanish, 5.0% Other Indo-European languages, and 1.2% Asian and Pacific Island languages.[42]
According to census[43] of 2000, the largest ancestry groups in St. Lucie County were: English 34%, African 15%, Irish 14%, German 13%, Italian 10%. For every 100 females, there were 95.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.80 males.
In 2010 there were 108,523 households, out of which 26.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.0% were married couples living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.9% were non-families. 24.2% of all non-family households were made up of individuals living alone, and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 77.7% 18 years of age and over; 23.2% from 25 to 44, 26.8% from 45 to 64, and 19.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.4 years.[42]
According to the 2010 census, the median income for a household in the county was $36,363, and the median income for a family was $41,381. Males had a median income of $30,047 versus $22,684 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,790. About 9.60% of families and 13.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.50% of those under age 18 and 7.70% of those age 65 or over
Governmental
- Board of County Commissioners
- Town & City Web Sites
- Constitutional officers
- Countywide districts
- Multicounty districts
- Judicial branch
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 688 square miles (1,780 km2), of which 572 square miles (1,480 km2) is land and 116 square miles (300 km2) (16.9%) is water.[12]
Adjacent counties
- Indian River County - north
- Martin County - south
- Okeechobee County - west