Fort Pierce, Florida

Fort Pierce, Florida
—  City  —
Nickname(s): Sunrise City
Location in St. Lucie County and the state of Florida
Coordinates: 27°26′20″N 80°20′8″W
Country	United States
State	Florida
County	St. Lucie
Area
• City	20.7 sq mi (53.8 km2)
• Land	14.7 sq mi (38.2 km2)
• Water	6 sq mi (15.6 km2)
Elevation	16 ft (5 m)
Population (2008)
• City	41,000
• Density	1,812.4/sq mi (697.3/km2)
• Metro	400,121
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
FIPS code	12-24300
GNIS feature ID	0307964

Fort Pierce, also spelled Ft. Pierce, is a city in St. Lucie County, Florida, USA. It is known as The Sunrise City. The population was 37,959 at the 2004 census. As of 2008, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 41,000.^[6] It is the county seat of St. Lucie County. Fort Pierce is part of the Port St. Lucie, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area which have population of 400,121. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 20.8 square miles (54 km²). 14.7 square miles (38 km²) of it is land and 6.0 square miles (16 km²) of it (35.00%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2008, there were 41,000 people residing in the city. The population density was2,212.4/sq mi (697.3/km²) . The racial makeup of the city was 49.54% White, 40.85% African American, 0.33% Native American, 0.79% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 5.36% from other races, and 3.05% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.00% of the population.

There were 14,407 households out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.1% were married couples living together, 19.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.8% were non-families. 31.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.19.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.2% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 19.5% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 97.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $25,121, and the median income for a family was $29,458. Males had a median income of $21,274 versus $20,012 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,345. About 25.4% of families and 30.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 45.1% of those under age 18 and 17.5% of those age 65 or over.

Ecology

The Experimental Oculina Research Reserve preserves the Oculina Banks, a reef of ivory bush coral (Oculina varicosa) off the coast of Fort Pierce, Florida. In 1984, a 92 square-nautical-mile (316 km²) portion of these reefs was designated the "Oculina Habitat Area of Particular Concern". In 1994, the area was closed to all manner of bottom fishing and was redesignated a research reserve. In 2000, the marine protected area was expanded to 300 square nautical miles (1,030 km²) and prohibited all gears that caused mechanical disruption to the habitat. The city is also known for its large manatee population.

Climate

The climate of Ft. Pierce is generally a humid subtropical climate, although it closely borders a tropical savanna climate. Summertime temperatures range between 80 and 90 degrees F. Temperatures in the winter range between 64 and 80 degrees F, although some winter days can drop down to 50 degrees, but rarely fall below 40 degrees.

Transportation

Fort Pierce is served by the St. Lucie Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) http://stlucietpo.org/. The TPO is a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_planning_organization, a federally-mandated and federally-funded transportation policy-making organization responsible for transportation planning, programming, and financing of State and Federal Transportation Funds for the City of Fort Pierce. 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 http://www.coasl.com/svc_transportation.html. 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) http://www.dot.state.fl.us/ approved funding, expanding the bus service to Martin County, and became the Treasure Coast Connector http://treasurecoastconnector.com/.

Tourist attractions

• A.E. Backus Museum and Gallery
• Arcade Building
• Boston House
• Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
• Heathcote Botanical Gardens
• Historic Main Street
• Florida Power and Light Energy Encounter
• Old Fort Pierce City Hall
• Old Fort Park
• Manatee Observation Center
• Navy UDT-SEAL Museum (Fort Pierce was the original home of the Navy SEALs)
• St. Lucie County Marine Center
• St. Lucie County Regional History Center
• Sunrise Theater

Notable residents

Zora Neale Hurston's House

CeeCee Ross Lyles monument

• Rick Ankiel, Major League Baseball player
• A.E. "Beanie" Backus
• Kimberly Bergalis
• Edwin Binney, co-founder of Crayola Crayons
• Jeff Blackshear
• Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
• Jamar Chaney, linebacker for Philadelphia Eagles
• Yamon Figurs
• Mark Foley
• John Houghtaling (1916–2009), creator of the Magic Fingers Vibrating Bed.
• Zora Neale Hurston
• Charles Johnson
• Ladislav Karabin, retired Czechoslovakian hockey player, who played for the Pittsburgh Penguins
• CeeCee Lyles
• Daniel T. McCarty, 31st Governor of Florida
• Ryan McNeil (American football)
• Larry Sanders (basketball)
• Gary Stewart, country singer
• Matthew Underwood

External links

• City of Fort Pierce
• What to do in Fort Pierce
• A virtual tour of Fort Pierce