Fellsmere, Florida

2025-10-19T14:05:35Z

2601:98B:8001:5920:9CFC:26B3:4D89:71CC:

{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement


|official_name = City of Fellsmere
|name = Fellsmere, Florida
|other_name =
|native_name = 
|nickname =
|settlement_type = [[City (Florida)|City]]
|motto =

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|image_map = Indian_River_County_Florida_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Fellsmere_Highlighted.svg
|mapsize = 250px
|map_caption = Location in [[Indian River County, Florida|Indian River County]] and the state of [[Florida]]
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|pushpin_map = USA
|pushpin_map_caption = Location in the United States

|subdivision_type = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name = {{flag|United States}}
|subdivision_type1 = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1 = {{flag|Florida}}
|subdivision_type2 = [[List of counties in Florida|County]]
|subdivision_name2 = {{noflag|[[Indian River County, Florida|Indian River]]}}
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|government_footnotes =
|government_type =
|leader_title = [[Mayor]]
|leader_name = Joel Tyson
|leader_title1 = [[Vice Mayor]]
|leader_name1 = Fernando Herrera
|leader_title2 = [[City Council|Council Members]]
|leader_name2 = Inocensia Hernandez, Gerald Renick, and [[Mayor Pro Tem]] Jessica Salgado
|leader_title3 = [[City Manager]]
|leader_name3 = Mark D. Mathes
|leader_title4 = [[City Clerk]]
|leader_name4 = Maria Suarez-Sanchez
|established_title = 
|established_date =
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|established_title3 = [[Municipal corporation|Incorporated]]
|established_date3 = 1911

|area_magnitude =
|unit_pref = Imperial
|area_footnotes = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2020">{{cite web|title=2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2020_Gazetteer/2020_gaz_place_12.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=October 31, 2021}}</ref>
|area_total_km2 = 149.67
|area_land_km2 = 149.13
|area_water_km2 = 0.54
|area_total_sq_mi = 57.79
|area_land_sq_mi = 57.58
|area_water_sq_mi = 0.21
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|population_as_of = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_footnotes =
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|population_total = 4834
|population_density_km2 = 32.41

|population_density_sq_mi = 83.95
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|timezone = [[North American Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
|utc_offset = -5
|timezone_DST = EDT
|utc_offset_DST = -4
|coordinates = {{coord|27|46|0|N|80|35|55|W|region:US-FL|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes = 
|elevation_m = 7
|elevation_ft = 23

|postal_code_type = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code = 32948
|area_code = [[Area code 772|772]]
|blank_name = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info = 12-22100<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2008-01-31|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref>
|blank1_name = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info = 0282414<ref name="GR3">{{cite web|url=http://geonames.usgs.gov|access-date=2008-01-31|title=US Board on Geographic Names|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]|date=2007-10-25}}</ref>
|website = {{URL|http://www.cityoffellsmere.org/}}
|footnotes =
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'''Fellsmere''' is a city in [[Indian River County, Florida|Indian River County]], [[Florida]], United States. It is part of the [[Sebastian, Florida|Sebastian]]–[[Vero Beach, Florida|Vero Beach]] [[Sebastian-Vero Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area|Metropolitan Statistical Area]]. The population was 4,834 at the 2020 census.

It is home of the [[Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival]] and was home to the now closed [[The National Elephant Center|National Elephant Center]]. Fellsmere is the first place in Florida where women were allowed to vote. In a municipal election on June 19, 1915, resident Zena M. Dreier became the first woman to legally cast a ballot in the [[American South]], five years before the [[Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|19th Amendment]] established women's suffrage nationally.

On November 16, 2023, historic rainfall hit Fellsmere and surrounding areas causing [[2023 North Indian River County floods|significant flooding]] in the city.<ref name=":0" />

==History==
[[File:Fellsmere FL Fell Library01.jpg|thumb|left|Fellsmere Library]]

In 1915, Fellsmere became the first municipality in Florida<ref name=flahist/> (or anywhere south of the [[Mason–Dixon line]])<ref name=palmbeachpost/> to grant [[Women's suffrage in the United States|women the right to vote]]. It also, at the same time, held the first election in which [[Suffrage#Business vote|corporations could vote]]. Mrs. Zena M. Dreier was the first woman to cast a vote in the city, and E. Nelson Fell cast a vote on behalf of his company Fellsmere Farms. The city had unanimously adopted a charter in February 1915,<ref name=palmbeachpost>{{cite news |last1=Webb |first1=Kristina |title=This small Florida city let women vote 5 years before the 19th Amendment |url=https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/this-small-florida-city-let-women-vote-years-before-19th-amendment/aELvajCp9v0moNchfWDsfK/ |access-date=October 28, 2018 |work=[[The Palm Beach Post]] |date=November 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181029020015/https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/this-small-florida-city-let-women-vote-years-before-19th-amendment/aELvajCp9v0moNchfWDsfK/ |archive-date=October 29, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> which granted these rights, and the city charter was ratified by the state legislature without any notice being paid to this provision. This, despite the fact that several statewide suffrage measures had failed in the legislature that year.<ref name=flahist>{{cite journal|last=Taylor |first=A. Elizabeth |title=The Woman Suffrage Movement in Florida |journal=[[Florida Historical Quarterly]] |volume=36 |issue=1 |date=July 1957 | page=56 | jstor=30138972 |url=http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/SN00154113_0036_001 |access-date=October 28, 2018 | via=[[University of Central Florida]] }}</ref> Women's suffrage was not granted nationally in the United States until five years later, in August 1920, with the passage of the [[Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|19th Amendment]].

=== 2023 Fellsmere Floods ===

On November 16, 2023, Fellsmere experienced [[2023 North Indian River County floods|major flooding]] after nearly 14 inches of rain fell in the area. These floods came only four months after flooding on July 31, 2023. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Kaila |title=Areas of Indian River County experienced flooding Friday after heavy rain fall |url=https://www.tcpalm.com/picture-gallery/news/2023/11/17/northern-indian-river-county-experiences-flooding-fellsmere-vero-lake-estates/71620512007/ |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=Treasure Coast |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-10 |title='Some transparency:' Fellsmere residents still fighting to be heard after November flooding |url=https://www.wptv.com/news/treasure-coast/region-indian-river-county/some-transparency-fellsmere-residents-still-fighting-to-be-heard-after-november-flooding |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=WPTV News Channel 5 West Palm |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Slater |first=Nick |title=Fellsmere Water Control District tapping reserves to spend $1.2 million on flood control |url=https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/indian-river-county/2024/05/14/fellsmere-water-control-district-spends-1-2-million-to-prevent-floods/72975814007/ |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=Treasure Coast |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=November 2023  Flooding Event - Roads Impassable |url=https://indianriver.gov/news_detail_T23_R127.php |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=indianriver.gov |language=en}}</ref>

==Geography==

The exact coordinates for the City of Fellsmere is located in central Indian River county at {{coord|27.766771|-80.598642|type:city_region:US|format=dms|display=inline}}.<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2011-04-23|date=2011-02-12|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref>

* To the north: [[Palm Bay, Florida|Palm Bay]]
* To the west: [[Blue Cypress Lake]]
* To the east: [[Sebastian, Florida|Sebastian]]

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of {{convert|149.4|sqkm|order=flip}}, of which {{convert|148.9|sqkm|order=flip}} are land and {{convert|0.5|sqkm|order=flip|1}}, or 0.45%, are water.<ref name="CenPopGazetteer2016">{{cite web|title=2018 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2018_Gazetteer/2018_gaz_place_12.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=Jul 19, 2019}}</ref>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1920= 333
|1930= 356
|1940= 643
|1950= 649
|1960= 732
|1970= 813
|1980= 1161
|1990= 2179
|2000= 3813
|2010= 5197
|2020= 4834
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}</ref>{{cbignore}}
}}

===2010 and 2020 census===
{| class="wikitable"
|+'''Fellsmere racial composition''' (Hispanics excluded from racial categories) (''NH = Non-Hispanic'') 
!Race
!Pop 2010<ref>{{Cite web|title=P2 HISPANIC OR LATINO, AND NOT HISPANIC OR LATINO BY RACE - 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) - Fellsmere city, Florida|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=Fellsmere+city;+Florida+&tid=DECENNIALPL2010.P2|website=[[United States Census Bureau]]}}</ref>
!Pop 2020<ref>{{Cite web|title=P2 HISPANIC OR LATINO, AND NOT HISPANIC OR LATINO BY RACE - 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) - Fellsmere city, Florida|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=Fellsmere+city;+Florida+&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2|website=[[United States Census Bureau]]}}</ref>
!% 2010
!% 2020
|-
|[[Non-Hispanic or Latino whites|White]] (NH)
|691
|545
|13.30%
|11.27%
|-
|[[Non-Hispanic or Latino African Americans|Black or African American]] (NH)
|246
|299
|4.73%
|6.19%
|-
|[[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] or [[Alaska Native]] (NH)
|15
|3
|0.29%
|0.06%
|-
|[[Asian Americans|Asian]] (NH)
|5
|3
|0.10%
|0.06%
|-
|[[Pacific Islander Americans|Pacific Islander]] or [[Native Hawaiian]] (NH)
|1
|4
|0.02%
|0.08%
|-
|[[Other races (U.S. Census)|Some other race]] (NH)
|3
|15
|0.06%
|0.31%
|-
|[[Multiracial Americans|Two or more races/Multiracial]] (NH)
|21
|55
|0.40%
|1.14%
|-
|[[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic or Latino]] (any race)
|4,215
|3,910
|81.10%
|80.89%
|-
|'''Total'''
|'''5,197'''
|'''4,834'''
|'''100.00%'''
|'''100.00%'''
|-
|}

As of the [[2020 United States census]], there were 4,834 people, 1,244 households, and 970 families residing in the city.<ref>{{Cite web|title=S1101 HOUSEHOLDS AND FAMILIES - 2020: Fellsmere city, Florida|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=Fellsmere+city;+Florida+&tid=ACSST5Y2020.S1101|website=[[United States Census Bureau]]}}</ref>

As of the [[2010 United States census]], there were 5,197 people, 1,323 households, and 1,137 families residing in the city.<ref>{{Cite web|title=S1101 HOUSEHOLDS AND FAMILIES - 2010: Fellsmere city, Florida|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=Fellsmere+city;+Florida+&tid=ACSST5Y2010.S1101|website=[[United States Census Bureau]]}}</ref>

===2000 census===
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, there were 3,813 people, 865 households, and 718 families residing in the city. The [[population density]] was {{convert|277.8|/km2|/mi2|disp=preunit|people|people|abbr=on}}. There were 918 housing units at an average density of {{convert|66.9|/km2|/mi2|disp=preunit|units|units|abbr=on}}. The racial makeup of the city was 60.11% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 6.69% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.47% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.10% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.05% [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 30.68% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 1.89% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 70.0% of the population.

In 2000, there were 865 households, out of which 52.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.6% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.9% were non-families. 12.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.94 and the average family size was 4.18.

In 2000, in the city, the population was spread out, with 33.3% under the age of 18, 15.4% from 18 to 24, 32.8% from 25 to 44, 13.0% from 45 to 64, and 5.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 26 years. For every 100 females, there were 139.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 149.8 males.

In 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $30,395, and the median income for a family was $31,318. Males had a median income of $19,195 versus $15,521 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the city was $10,258. About 21.7% of families and 24.3% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 25.2% of those under age 18 and 12.9% of those age 65 or over.

==Local economy==
The large Hispanic population of Fellsmere owes to the surrounding agriculture industry, namely [[citrus production|citrus groves]] and other crop types. In the city, many locally owned niche businesses thrive, including restaurants, ethnic food, architectural salvage, gifts, guitar, and motorized vehicle repair establishments.

==Public transportation==
Fellsmere is served by the #10 bus route of [[GoLine]], providing service to the North County Transit Hub.<ref>{{cite web |title=Go Line Guide |url=https://www.golineirt.com/GoLineGuide.pdf |website=golineirt.com |date=2024-12-19| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250510212738/https://www.golineirt.com/GoLineGuide.pdf| archive-date=2025-05-10| url-status=live}}</ref>

The first railroad to reach Fellsmere was the narrow-gauge Sebastian-Cincinnatus Railroad, built by the sons of printing magnate [[United States Playing Card Company|Anthony Octavius Russell]].<ref>{{cite web |author1=Paige Van Antwerp |title=Gambling man: How Fellsmere's future was tied to the world's largest playing card company |url=https://www.tcpalm.com/story/specialty-publications/vero-beach/2018/12/06/history-fellsmere-not-cards-ambitious-printing-magnate/2224874002/ |website=Treasure Coast |publisher=TCpalm.com |access-date=10 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507125649/https://www.tcpalm.com/story/specialty-publications/vero-beach/2018/12/06/history-fellsmere-not-cards-ambitious-printing-magnate/2224874002/ |archive-date=7 May 2021}}</ref> It was replaced by the standard-gauge Fellsmere Railroad in 1910. The line was later extended west to the now-gone town of Broadmoor before being bought by the Trans-Florida Central Railroad in 1924. The line was abandoned in 1952.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Fellsmere Railroad |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=93266 |website=The Historical Marker Database |access-date=10 January 2023}}</ref>

==References==
<references />

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.cityoffellsmere.org City of Fellsmere official website]
*[http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMQX2_Birthplace_For_Equal_Suffrage_For_Women_In_Florida Historical marker in town noting the 1915 election, with photos]

{{Indian River County, Florida}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Cities in Indian River County, Florida]]
[[Category:Cities in Florida]]

Vero - Wikipedia - User contributions [en]

Fellsmere, Florida