Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Fort Pierce (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Sunrise Theatre, A. E. Backus Gallery & Museum, and Old Fort Pierce City Hall. Also, be sure to include Heathcote Botanical Gardens in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Fort Pierce (Florida).
Table of Contents
Sunrise Theatre
Theater in Fort Pierce, Florida. The Sunrise Theatre is a historic theater in Fort Pierce, Florida. It is located at 117 South 2nd Street.[1]
Address: 117 S 2nd St, 34950-4305 Fort Pierce (Fort Pierce)
A. E. Backus Gallery & Museum
The A. E. Backus Museum & Gallery is located at 500 North Indian River Drive, Fort Pierce, Florida. This museum houses artwork by A. E. Backus and other Florida artists. The museum contains the largest collection of paintings by A. E. Backus, a preeminent Florida landscape painter.
The A.E. Backus Museum & Gallery, a 5,000 sq. ft. public visual arts facility, was established in 1960 by A.E. Backus and a group of local art enthusiasts. Open five days a week from October through mid-June (summer hours by appointment) the museum features the Nation's largest display of original paintings by Albert Ernest Backus (American 1906 – 1990). The museum also handles consignment sales of Backus paintings as well as other Treasure Coast artists of merit. Four additional exhibition wings feature changing exhibits of artwork by contemporary artists.[2]
Address: 500 N Indian River Dr, 34950-3080 Fort Pierce (Fort Pierce)
Old Fort Pierce City Hall
Building. Located at 315 Avenue A, the Old Fort Pierce City Hall is a historic building in downtown Fort Pierce, Florida. Designed with both Mediterranean Revival Style and Italian Renaissance Revival elements by architect William Hatcher, the structure was built in 1925 at the peak of the Florida land boom by builder C.E. Cahow.
The building was used as the Fort Pierce City Hall until 1983. It was restored in 1995 for $500,000, being the first of many of Fort Pierce's successes in preservation. On December 7, 2001, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.[3]
Heathcote Botanical Gardens
Botanical garden in Fort Pierce, Florida. Heathcote Botanical Gardens is a five-acre subtropical botanical garden located at 210 Savannah Road, Fort Pierce, Florida, United States.
Heathcote is a non-profit, 501 (C)3 educational foundation that bills itself as the "Green Heart of the Treasure Coast." It began in 1960 as the commercial nursery of landscape architect Molly Crimmons and her husband, Jim. Heathcote Botanical Gardens was established in 1986 when the site was purchased by local citizens with contributions from the City of Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County, the State of Florida and Friends of Heathathcote Botanical Gardens.
It currently includes a Japanese garden with teahouse, Reflection Garden, Herb Garden, Rainforest Display, Native Plants Garden, Children's Garden, and a Palm and Cycad Walk.
Other garden plants include: bamboo, a banyan tree, bromeliads, Clerodendrums, Clusia rosea, Coccoloba uvifera, Codiaeum sp., crotons, Encephalartos gratus, orchids, Pandanus utilis, Petrea volubilis, philodendrons, pineapple, Podocarpus gracilior, Tillandsias, and Zamia pumila.
The Garden of Lights is a major fundraiser that sees the entire garden decorated with tens of thousands of tiny Christmas lights. It draws more than 10,000 people each year during weekend evenings leading up to Christmas.
The Adams/Peterson Pioneer house is a replica of an 1870 "Cracker"- style home that shows what it was like to live in Old Florida.
Heathcote is most well known for being the home of the James J. Smith Bonsai Collection, the largest public collection of tropical bonsai in the country. The collection has more bonsai on year-round display than any other public exhibit in the United States. Although there are 26 species represented in the collection, almost half the trees are species of ficus. The more than 100 specimen bonsai range from a huge buttonwood, estimated to be 200 years old, to a magnificent, twin-trunk Jaboticaba, originally styled by John Naka in 1973.
James J. Smith was an internationally recognized authority on bonsai who operated a wholesale bonsai nursery in Vero Beach, FL. He learned from some of the most famous bonsai masters in the world including John Naka and Toshio Saburomaru. For decades, Smith conducted a free monthly workshop at his Durastone Nursery on Old Dixie Highway. He was mentor to several generations of Florida bonsai artists. His bonsai are in numerous important collections around the world, and numerous books picture his trees and discuss his work.
When he was in his 80s, he agreed to give most of his private collection to Heathcote if it could develop a suitable display area. Heathcote conducted a major fundraising campaign and developed a plan for a 10,000-square-foot garden complete with stone stands and a Japanese-influenced pavilion that is a favorite scene for weddings and garden parties.
Smith died in 2016.[4]
Address: 210 Savannah Rd, 34982-3447 Fort Pierce
Boston House
Building in Fort Pierce, Florida. The Boston House is a historic building in downtown Fort Pierce, Florida. It is located at 239 South Indian River Drive. On April 11, 1985, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It is recognized for its unique mixture of Neo-classical and Georgian architecture. It is also recognized for its part in local history. On April 18, 2012, the AIA's Florida Chapter placed the building on its list of Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places as Cresthaven/Boston House.[5]
Address: 239 S Indian River Dr, 34950 Ft. Pierce (Fort Pierce)
St. Lucie County Aquarium featuring the Smithsonian Marine Ecosystems Exhibit
Aquarium, Museum, Park, Zoo, Science museum
Address: 420 Seaway Dr, 34949-3138 Fort Pierce (Hutchinson Island South)
Manatee Observation and Education Center
Nature and wildlife, Museum, Park, Waterfront
Address: 480 N Indian River Dr, 34950-3024 Fort Pierce (Fort Pierce)
Moores Creek Bridge
Concrete bridge in Fort Pierce, Florida. Moores Creek Bridge is an historic single span reinforced concrete bridge located on North 2nd Street between Avenues B and C in Fort Pierce, Florida. Including run up, it is 46 feet long. It is known locally as the Tickle Tummy Bridge or Tickle Tummy Hill because of its high arch relative to its short length. On August 17, 2001, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.[6]
Old Fort Pierce Park
City park in Fort Pierce, Florida. This site once had a natural spring which made it a popular location for the Ais Indians and later for Spanish sailors who would stop here occasionally to refill their water jars before making the transatlantic crossing back to Spain. It is not uncommon to find Spanish relics mixed with Indian potsherds in the river at that location.
Old Fort Pierce Park is the site of Fort Pierce, a military installation constructed by the U.S. Army in Florida with the purpose of being a main supply depot for the army during the Second Seminole War. The modern town of Fort Pierce derives its name from this installation.
Fort Pierce, named for its first commander Benjamin Kendrick Pierce, was built in 1838 as a defensive position in the Second Seminole War. During the war, then second-lieutenant William Tecumseh Sherman was stationed at Fort Pierce. It was abandoned in 1842 at the end of the war and burned down the following year.
Today, the site is a park along the Indian River. The park is also the site of an ancient burial mound of the Ais Indian tribe which extended from Cape Canaveral to the Saint Lucie inlet.[7]
Old St. Anastasia Catholic School
School. Built in 1914, the Old St. Anastasia Catholic School is a historic school in Fort Pierce, Florida. It is located at 910 Orange Avenue. It was built by James P. McNichol, a senator from Philadelphia who fished in Fort Pierce during the winter, for the pastor that rode into town once a month. Along with the masonry school, McNichol had built a wooden church, rectory, and convent. Eventually the Catholic Mission would end in 1911 and the school was all that remained. On August 10, 2000, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. After damage from Hurricane Frances and Jeanne, the structure was in a state of disrepair. The building has since been stabilized and awaits restoration.[8]
Arcade Building
Building in Fort Pierce, Florida. Built in 1926, the Arcade Building is a historic building in downtown Fort Pierce, Florida. It is located at 101 U.S. 1, North. Built in a Spanish Colonial Revival style, when built it was the largest commercial building in Fort Pierce. On October 12, 2001, the structure was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The building was used for retail and office space until the 1980s when a fire damaged a third of the building. Since then the building was underused until the facade and the interior were restored in 2002. Its restoration was a major priority in the city's redevelopment.[9]