History

During the Second Seminole War, the Hernandez-Capron Trail was built to link St. Augustine with Fort Pierce at St. Lucie.

After the war, the new road allowed settlers to move into the Brevard/Indian River area. Ranchers used the road to move cattle until the 1970s.

Around 1889, the Herndon family settled this land. Their homestead was burned in the early 1940s. Other families have built homesteads here, but none remain.

The land has been used for growing citrus, ranching, turpentining and logging. The state began acquiring the land in 1995.