INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Indian River County Historical Society will offer a fascinating glimpse into the railroad history of northern Indian River County on Saturday, February 19, with a talk and tour of the Kitching Switch area. County historian Ruth Stanbridge will lead the two-hour tour which begins at the Trailhead at 1 pm. Located at the entrance to the St. Sebastian River State Buffer Preserve and IRC North Regional Park on County Road 512 west of Sebastian, the Kitching Switch Trailhead building is a replica of the rail car shed used along the Fellsmere Railroad, later known as the Trans-Florida Central Railroad.
Kitching Switch was a siding on the rail line between Sebastian and Fellsmere. It was named for the owner of a general store in the area where workers in the pine woods sawed lumber and made turpentine in the early 1900s. The rail line is tied into the history of the Fellsmere Farms, the local lumber industry, and the Florida land boom in the 1920s.
This tour is the fourth in the series “Telling Tales” offered by the Indian River County Historical Society this season. The Historical Society office is located in the Vero Beach Train Station at 2335 14th Avenue in downtown Vero Beach.
Reservations are required for the tour.
Tickets are $15 for Historical Society members and $20 for non-members.
To make reservations and purchase tickets, contact the Historical Society at 772-778-3435 or [email protected].
