A Look at Local History: The Royal Park Inn

In 1923, Waldo Sexton, Walter Buckingham, F.L. Hemmings, and Arthur McKee organized the Royal Park Development Company to build a large subdivision. The plans included 1,000 lots on about 400 acres of land north of today’s 21st Street.

The main thoroughfare, Royal Palm Boulevard, was lined with royal palm trees, and street names such as “Coronado” and “Catalina” paid homage to Florida’s Spanish heritage.

The Royal Park Inn was the centerpiece of the development; it provided a place to stay for those in town to look at local properties or escape the cold Northern states. The inn was opened in November 1924 by hotelier Frederick Doeschner and was nestled between the curves of Ponce de Leon Circle. Nearby, the Royal Park Golf Club (now Vero Beach Country Club) and the Royal Palm residential areas were built. To the east, a wooden bridge crossed the river to the barrier island and the Atlantic Ocean.

A postcard featuring the inn advertised 70 rooms, all with a tub and shower. Amenities named were a playground and courts for horseshoes and shuffleboard.

Of note is the fact that the architect of the Royal Park Inn was Canadian Frederick H. Trimble, who had settled in Fellsmere in the mid-1910s. He began his architectural career by designing the Fellsmere School in 1915; he ultimately designed more than 50 Florida schools. He also designed the Vero Theatre, which opened in 1924, and several homes in the Royal Park subdivision.

About a block south of the Royal Park Inn was the Royal Park Arcade. Not built by the same development team, the structure was in the Mediterranean Revival style reminiscent of the Florida land boom of the time. This 1926 construction featured 16 retail bays under an arcaded loggia and apartments on the second floor. The building exists today at the southeast corner of 11th Avenue and 21st Street.

In 1936, the Royal Park Inn was sold to C.A. Perry and Associates of Atlanta, Georgia. A news item said Perry owned and operated a West Coast hotel and was connected to an Atlanta construction company. The first event under the new ownership was a Rotary Ladies Night banquet.

Old Dixie Highway became the busier U.S. 1, and the train station bustled with daily passengers. The Royal Park Inn continued to be busy, and its restaurant remained popular with visitors and residents alike.

During World War II, when Naval Air Station Vero Beach took over the local airport, the hotel was used to house some of the military personnel.

In the 1960s, the old Royal Park Inn had declined and was replaced by Royal Park Condominiums.  

Penny Chandler Norris is a volunteer with the Indian River County Historical Society.