Sebastian Florida’s original inhabitants were the Ais Indian tribe, who lived in coastal villages along the river from our area up to Coca Beach. When the Spanish explorers first landed in the area now known as Sebastian, during the mid to late 1500’s, the Ais Indians were already established and considered this area their home. Initially they gave the Spaniards a tussle, but over time the Ais tribes developed friendly relationships with the Spaniards and worked together with them. As other explorers came to this area, they were none too pleased and they considered anyone who was not Spanish to be their enemies.
Sebastian, which was founded in ” 1882[9] and named St. Sebastian, after Saint Sebastian.[10] Later, “St.” was removed from the name of the town, but not from the river. Sebastian was incorporated as a city in 1923″. Although the city grew over time, it remained mostly a sleepy town and a fishing village until the railroad came through. The railroads brought people from all over the country down through the Treasure Coast and this area evolved from a primarily fishing and farming area, into more of a tourist destination .
When Mell Fisher established his Treasure hunting business here in the 1960’s along with his partner and they began to make large discoveries of gold, our little town of Sebastian became known for Treasure and well as fishing.
Today there are still commercial fishermen working the Sebastian river, but our residents have all manner of employment. From people in the Financial and Healthcare sector, to Business Owners and everything in between. Most people choose to live in Sebastian because of its proximity to the water, the friendly feel of the place and the affordability of the lifestyle here.
For some, it’s still the lure of treasure that brings them to Sebastian. There are still millions of pieces of silver and gold to be discovered on the Treasure Coast. But WE know it’s the great fishing that brings more people here than anything else. That’s why we hold our fishing tournament in Sebastian.
Over the past 10 years, our quiet town has been growing. The good side to that is we have more good and services close at hand. There are more grocery stores, more restaurants and entertainment. Of course along with that is more traffic and more people. It’s a double-edged sword.
But what hasn’t changed in this community’s committment to helping our children. The Blue Water Open Charity Fishing Tournament puts all of the profits we make back into our local community. We support several charities, give out awards to our students and have a scholarship fund just to name a few. We say that we do it for the kids.
So, come, visit our city, fish in our tournament and get to know a little more about Sebastian.
Exchange Club of Sebastian