Passengers, Pay Phones and a Post Office

Passengers, Pay Phones and a Post Office. Historic Sailfish Trail. Look behind you. The two-story building with the elaborate faux stone exterior is the Feroe Building. Built in 1913, this was the home of the Stuart Drug Company – and Stuart's first pay phone!, Installed on April 9, 1915, calls from the phone cost 10 cents – almost $2.00 in today's money. The average income in Stuart in those days was $687 a year, so making a phone call was quite a luxury. Still, within the first hour, three calls were placed to West Palm Beach (which was the location of the county seat)., By 1917, use of the pay phone jumped in price: Three minutes cost 41 cents – the extra penny a war tax. By then the Stuart Post Office had joined Stuart Drug in the Feroe Building, occupying the corner across from the new train station built in 1913., It was September 1912 when Stanley Kitching, Charles C. Chillingworth and Harry Feroe each contributed the exorbitant sum of $350 (over $8,500 today) to guarantee construction of a new rail station. Just a week later (talk about fast track), Florida East Coast Railroad officials announced the new, larger station would be built exactly where you stand now., Completed in early 1913, the station hosted morning and evening trains until passenger service was discontinued in the mid-1960s. In December 1967, despite attempts to move and save the building, the old station was demolished., Captions: , (Top) In 1925 the Post Office relocated, allowing the Stuart Drug Company to expand into the entire first floor of the Feroe Building, where it operated for decades. , (Middle) Between the Stuart Drug Company in the Feroe Building and the train depot, the intersection of Flagler and St. Lucie Avenues was a hub of community activity in Stuart. , (Bottom) Completed in 1913, the Stuart Train Depot was active until Florida East Coast Railway stopped passenger service in the 1960s., For more local history, visit the Stuart Heritage Museum in the Stuart Feed Store building (www.stuartheritagemuseum.com) or the Elliott Museum (www.elliottmuseum.org)..