Pioneers In Paradise

Land promoters distributed postcards, like this one, to entice Midwesterners to buy parcels in “Indian River Farms,” a tract of reclaimed wetlands in what is now the west side of Vero Beach. This postcard reads, "The 25-acre pineapple field at O.O. Helseth, joining Indian River Farms at Vero, Florida, which produced $20,000 in 1913. Would you invest in 25 acres if you could be shown an income of $20,000 per year? Then come to Vero, Florida.

“We had come very suddenly indeed, at the physician’s insistence, seeking a life for our 5-year-old girl. We carried her much of the way on a stretcher. We were glad to step out into deep, yielding sand when, after five days and nights in a dusty, smoky coach, the little train stopped at the St. Lucie flag stop.”

These are the words of Dr. Inga Olla Helseth as she recalled her journey as an 8-year-old child from Minneapolis to Viking, Florida, in 1896. The little girl of whom she wrote was her younger sister, Emma, who’d been diagnosed with bronchitis. In those days, such diseases were of the utmost concern in northern climates; in fact, Inga’s cousin had already been lost to diphtheria, and Emma’s parents were warned that the only way to save her was to move to a warmer climate. So it was without hesitation that they brought Inga, Emma and baby Albert from the chill of the Midwest to the warmth and wilderness of Florida.

Years later, Inga would grow up to be a pioneer in the advancement of education and mental health treatment in our community. Yet she was only one member of a family of pioneers who would help to shape the character of Indian River County.

Read the entire article in the April 2005 issue