Sebastian Inlet 25 Cents an Acre
Sebastian Inlet is part of the east coast’s surfing epicenter and one of the biggest beach breaks on the Atlantic Coastline. The inlet is located at the southern end of Sebastian Inlet State Park in Brevard County and Indian River County. It is home to the largest concentration of surf shops and board builders.
Just north of Vero Beach, Palm Beach County,12 miles straight up U.S. Highway One, and 15 miles south of Melbourne, the Sebastian Inlet was originally cut in 1872. It was known as Gibson’s Cut. The settler, David Peter Gibson, attempted to open up a cut into the Atlantic Ocean. He did not acquire title to the property where the digging took place until 1885. At the time, the cut was only 260 feet wide and the distance was only 120 yards deep.
In 1891, a second attempt to open up the inlet was endeavored and a third effort to make it larger in 1897. Some wealthy Brevard residents formed a corporation, the Roseland Inlet Corporation, to open up the inlet. They purchased the grant to dig for $5,050 and then purchased 20,000 acres for 25 cents an acre. Their attempt was in hopes of draining swampland and open up an easy access for their sailboats to get sea.
A fourth and fifth attempt also failed. The sixth effort finally succeeded in opening up the cut to the ocean through a narrow peninsula opposite the mouth of the Sebastian River.
Today the Sebastian Inlet is a surfing hotspot and home to three generations of world-class surfers including Kelly Slater. Sebastian Inlet came to the attention of the surfing world in 1969 when 3 local surfing legends were fined and arrested for illegally surfing within 200 feet of the jetty. The jetty extension brought attention to the inlet and the national surfing industry. The break has been featured in more than a dozen surf movies.
Surrounding this surfers’ paradise is Sebastian Inlet State Park, a 755-acres piece of land that incorporates the Indian River Lagoon to the west and more than three miles of beaches along the Atlantic to the east. The town of Sebastian is in an area referred to as the “Treasure Coast”. In 1715, fleets of treasure laden Spanish gallons came upon a storm and were lost. Only part of the treasure has been recovered. The value placed on the missing treasure is estimated to be over $500 million.
If you have any questions about living in this little slice of paradise, please contact the real estate specialists at Waterfront Properties and Club Communities at 561-746-7272.
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