Sebastian, Florida

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Sebastian, Florida
City
City hall
City hall
Motto: "Home Of Pelican Island"[1]
"Friendly People and Six Old Grouches"[2][3]
Location in Indian River County and the state of Florida
Location in Indian River County and the state of Florida
Sebastian, Florida is located in USA
Sebastian, Florida
Sebastian, Florida
Location in the United States
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Country United States
State Florida
County  Indian River
Settled 1870s
First settlers Andrew Canova, Ed Marr, Thomas New and David Peter Gibson
Incorporated (municipality) Dec. 6, 1924
Incorporated (city) May 18, 1925
Government
 • Type Council-manager government
Area
 • Total 13.5 sq mi (35.1 km2)
 • Land 12.6 sq mi (32.7 km2)
 • Water 0.9 sq mi (2.4 km2)
Elevation 20 ft (6 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 21,921
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code 32958, 32978
Area code(s) 772
FIPS code 12-64825[4]
GNIS feature ID 0295607[5]
Website City of Sebastian Florida

Sebastian is a city in Indian River County, State of Florida, United States. In 2010, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 21,929.[6]

Sebastian is a principal city of the Sebastian−Vero Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Indian River County.

History

In 1715, several Spanish ships loaded with treasure (known as the 1715 Treasure Fleet) encountered a storm off the shores of the Treasure Coast and were lost.[7] It is estimated that only a portion of the sunken treasure has been found. The value placed on the treasure lost from the 1715 fleet has been estimated at over $500 million USD.

The town of Sebastian was a fishing village as early as the 1870s. In the early 1880s David Peter Gibson, and Thomas New settled in the area. New filed to start a post office under the name New Haven. However, New got into legal trouble for misuse of his position as postmaster and was removed. Sebastian was officially founded in 1882[7] and named St. Sebastian, after Saint Sebastian.[8] Later, “St.” was removed from the name of the town, but not from the river. Sebastian was incorporated as a city in 1923. Nearby Pelican Island was declared the United States’ first National Wildlife refuge in 1903.

Geography

Climate

Climate data for Sebastian
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °F (°C) 73
(23)
74
(23)
77
(25)
80
(27)
85
(29)
88
(31)
89
(32)
89
(32)
87
(31)
83
(28)
77
(25)
73
(23)
81.3
(27.4)
Average low °F (°C) 54
(12)
56
(13)
59
(15)
64
(18)
68
(20)
72
(22)
74
(23)
74
(23)
74
(23)
69
(21)
62
(17)
56
(13)
65.2
(18.3)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 2.1
(53)
2.2
(56)
3.5
(89)
3.5
(89)
3.6
(91)
5.1
(130)
5.8
(147)
6.0
(152)
9.1
(231)
7.1
(180)
2.4
(61)
1.6
(41)
52
(1,320)
Source: Weatherbase

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1930 386
1940 425 10.1%
1950 376 −11.5%
1960 698 85.6%
1970 825 18.2%
1980 2,831 243.2%
1990 10,205 260.5%
2000 16,181 58.6%
2010 21,929 35.5%
Est. 2014 23,344 [9] 6.5%
U.S. Decennial Census[10]
File:Sebastian historical marker 01.jpg
Sebastian Historical Marker

At the 2010 census,[4][11] there were 21,921 people, 9,508 households and 6.462 families residing within the city in 10,815 housing units. The racial make-up of the city was 90.5% White, 5.3% African American, 0.20% Native American, 1.10% Asian, 1.2% from other races, and 1.60% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.00% of the population.

21.5% of households had children under the age of 16 living with them, 54.1% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present. 32.00% consisted of non-traditional families or unrelated individuals. 25.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.9% had someone living alone who was 85 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.75.

52.4% of the population were female and 47.6% male. 15.8% were under the age of 16, 6.0% from 15 to 19, 3.7% from 20 to 24, 3.8% from 25 to 29, and 26.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 50.1 years.

The per capita income for the city was $24,959 in 2010.[12] About 4.8% of families and 6.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.6% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.

Government

The Government of the City of Sebastian follows a council-manager government model with a five member city council as the elected governing body and a city manager as the chief operating officer. Members of the city council serve two-year terms with staggered elections.

Education

The School District of Indian River County operates public schools.

There are three elementary schools (Sebastian Elementary,[14] Pelican Island Elementary[15] and Treasure Coast Elementary[16]), three middle schools (Sebastian River Middle School,[17] Storm Grove Middle School[18] and Sebastian Charter Junior High) and one high school (Sebastian River High School) in the city.

Located to the west of the city center on County Road 512, the North County Public Library is part of the Indian River County Library System.

Notable people

See also

References

  1. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. Russ Lemmon: Origin of Sebastian's 'Six Old Grouches' remains a mystery
  3. "Who are Sebastian's "six old grouches"?", Tampa Bay Times
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  6. [1]
  7. 7.0 7.1 http://www.citytowninfo.com/places/florida/sebastian
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  12. http://www.bestplaces.net/city/florida/sebastian#
  13. 13.00 13.01 13.02 13.03 13.04 13.05 13.06 13.07 13.08 13.09 13.10 13.11 13.12 13.13 13.14 13.15 13.16 13.17 13.18 Sebastian River Area historical Society, Inc., More Tales of Sebastian 1992
  14. [2]
  15. [3]
  16. [4]
  17. [5]
  18. [6]
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External links