Port St. Lucie’s Living History

A city that incorporated with zero residents sounds like a riddle, but it’s the spark that brings Port St. Lucie’s past to life in this conversation with curator Donnita Graben. We pull back the curtain on the Port St. Lucie History Museum and Education Center inside the historic Peacock Lodge, tracing the city’s rapid journey from ranch land and river bends to one of Florida’s fastest-growing communities.

Donnita shares how the Port St. Lucie Historical Society began in 1996 with a simple, ambitious goal: capture and protect local history before it fades. You’ll hear about moving historic buildings from the Peacock Ranch to McCarty Ranch and finally to the Port, and why those relocations matter for preserving a sense of place. We explore the power of oral histories in a young city where founders and first residents are still around to share stories, and we discuss how outreach to HOAs, clubs, and neighborhood groups helps new arrivals connect with the roots under their feet.

Along the way, we surface surprises—like why the 1961 incorporation counted zero residents and how the city operated without its own police department until 1980—framing Port St. Lucie’s growth in a way that’s both human and historic. If you’re curious about local museums, civic identity, or how communities preserve living memory, this is a thoughtful guide to visiting and getting involved. Plan your trip to 2456 SE Westmoreland Boulevard, check hours Wednesday to Friday 10–4 and Saturday 11–3, and explore pslhistory.org for memberships and volunteer opportunities that keep this nonprofit museum thriving.

If this story opened your eyes to Port St. Lucie’s hidden history, subscribe, share the episode with a neighbor, and leave a review to help more locals find the museum and become part of the story.

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduced

SPEAKER_00 0:04

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Garfield Bowen.

SPEAKER_02 0:21

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you looking to search for some of the resources that's available at the Port St. Lucie History Museum? Well, we have a treat. Okay, uh Danita.

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 0:47

Okay, we we're audience is looking for you. You you just disappeared on us. Listen, we have a treat for you. We have Danita um Gray Bon with the uh Port St. Lucie History Museum and Education Center. Danita, how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_01 1:05

I'm doing great, and thank you so much, Mr. Garfield, for giving me this opportunity to be on your podcast and talk about the museum.

SPEAKER_02 1:13

Listen, we're excited to learn all about the museum. Tell us about it.

Museum Origins And Location

SPEAKER_01 1:17

Well, uh the Port St. Lucie History Museum and Education Center has only been opened about a year and a couple of months. It uh it's located inside of the Peacock Um Lodge that is one of our founding ranchers here in Port St. Lucie. And uh the it's a historical building, and it's now located in um in the port, which is off of Westmoreland, right next to the Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

Okay, so um how did you get into the museum as a curator? What brought you into this field?

Curator’s Path And Mission

SPEAKER_01 1:57

Well, uh I'm a retired um media specialist and a longtime resident of St. Lucie County, and preserving our history is deeply important to me. Ours is a relatively young city, which gives us a rare opportunity to capture firsthand stories from the residents who were here at the very beginning. And by collecting and sharing those stories, now uh we ensure that they aren't lost and we can uh pass them on to future generations. But the roots of the Port St. Lucie History Museum go back to 1996 when the Port St. Lucie Historical Society was first founded. And um there was a goal, and the goal was to create a place to preserve and share our our local history. And then nine and then 2018 is when they took these two historical buildings from the Peacock Ranch, they moved them temporarily to the McCarty Ranch, which is another of our founding fathers or branchers, and then they ultimately brought them here to the port.

SPEAKER_02 3:09

So we we we know marketing is the key of every organization. How would you define your target audience and how are you currently attracting people to come to the museum?

SPEAKER_01 3:20

That's a very good question. What we've been trying to do, uh our target is everyone in St. Lucie County, and that includes visitors, um, anyone who enjoys history or wants to know where it all started. Um so we're targeting everybody. We have been trying to I go out into the HOAs and talk to them about our history. I go to clubs, I go to different organizations. Um, I've been trying this podcast, it's one of the ways to try and get the information out there. It's a lot harder in such a big city to let people know we're here.

SPEAKER_02 3:59

Well, like you said, Port St. Lucie is a fairly new city. It's one of the fastest growing cities in uh Florida. Um, have you ever thought about doing your very own podcast?

City Growth, Surprising Facts, And Visiting Info

SPEAKER_01 4:12

I haven't, and I really don't know enough about social media, but I love what we're doing right now, and uh it just looks a lot more complicated.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

Danita, when you're not so busy with the museum, what do you like to do for fun?

SPEAKER_01 4:29

Well, I love going around Port St. Lucie to all of the different parks and preserves and uh kayaking in the river, but I also like going to different events to talk about the history of St. Lucie County, and I I visit other counties also to hear about their history.

SPEAKER_02 4:47

Now I know you said the museum, and it has a lot of interesting facts. I I I want you to leave our listeners with one thing, one fact about Porsche Moose that they didn't know that they gotta get to the museum to find out more information. What would that one thing be?

SPEAKER_01 5:03

Well, in it was uh incorporated in 1961, but in 1961, zero people lived in Port St. Lucie. And what I'd like them to know is why. There were people here, but they weren't in Port St. Lucie. Um, and we didn't even get a police department until 1980. Which is kind of unusual, yes.

SPEAKER_03 5:29

Wow. So I was just I'm sorry, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

I was gonna say, and now 65 years later, short years later, we're over a quarter of a million people in the incorporated Port St. Lucy.

SPEAKER_02 5:47

Wow. Um, for our listeners here that want to get more information, um, whether it's online, calling you, or just really stopping by the museum, what's the best way for them to reach you?

SPEAKER_01 6:02

Okay, so we're located in the port, which is at 2456 Southeast Westmoreland Boulevard, and we're open Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. And then on Saturday from 11 to 3. But we also have a website which is pslhistory.org org. And um there on that website, the museum, see the museum is a nonprofit organization, and it's entirely run by volunteers, and we're always looking for people who would like to help, uh, guests to help support the mission. Um, our website will define all the different ways that you can help out. You can um you can volunteer, you can join the Port St. Lucie Historical Society as an individual, a family, a business, or you can just simply come into the museum and share in the experience.

SPEAKER_02 7:02

Listen, Danita, it's been a pleasure having you on the show. I wish you and your organization the very best moving forward.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

Thank you so much.

Closing And Nomination CTA

SPEAKER_00 7:14

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnplive.com. That's gnplive.com.