Indiantown, Florida

Indiantown is a village in Martin County, Florida, United States. The population was 6,560 at the 2020 census.

History

thumb|left|The Indiantown [[Seaboard Air Line Railroad depot, now demolished]]

Indiantown was originally established by the Seminole people as a trading post. Tribes fleeing southwards from the U.S. Army after the First Seminole War found the area an attractive place to settle due to a relatively higher elevation and ample hunting and fishing spots. It was then settled by white American migrants in the 1890s.

In 1924, Indiantown was transformed when S. Davies Warfield built an extension of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad from Coleman, Florida, to West Palm Beach, passing directly through—and stopping in—Indiantown. Warfield's contributions to Indiantown are memorialized in, among others, Warfield Boulevard (the main route through Indiantown) and Warfield Elementary School. Toward that end, he planned a model city, laying out streets and building a school, housing, and a railroad station.

Seaboard trains continued to stop at the Indiantown depot through the 1960s, but passenger service to the station was eliminated when Amtrak took over in 1971. The depot was demolished several years later. The Seminole Inn is virtually all that remains of the 1920s boom.

Currently, the economy of Indiantown relies heavily on seasonal agriculture. The town also continues to make use of its position near the intersections of many major roads to act as a transportation and infrastructure hub. There are also attempts to take advantage of nearby natural wetlands and to revitalize the rodeo in order to draw in tourists.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Indiantown was particularly affected by the virus, with 10% of the city testing positive for the virus as of July 2020, among the highest in the state at the time.

Geography

Indiantown is located in western Martin County east of Port Mayaca on Lake Okeechobee, southwest of Stuart, the Martin county seat, and northwest of West Palm Beach.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Indiantown has a total area of , of which , or 1.80%, are water.

| align = right

| align-fn = center

Racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable"

|+Indiantown racial composition<br> (Hispanics excluded from racial categories)<br> (NH = Non-Hispanic)<br>

!Race

!Pop 2010

!Pop 2020

!% 2010

!% 2020

|White (NH)

|1,254

|1,089

|20.61%

|16.60%

|Black or African American (NH)

|847

|805

|13.92%

|12.27%

|Native American or Alaska Native (NH)

|12

|0.20%

|0.09%

|Asian (NH)

|12

|14

|0.20%

|0.21%

|Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian (NH)

|0.02%

|0.05%

|Some other race (NH)

|17

|0.03%

|0.26%

|Two or more races/Multiracial (NH)

|23

|63

|0.38%

|0.96%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|3,932

|4,563

|64.64%

|69.56%

|Total

|6,083

|6,560

|100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Indiantown had a population of 6,560. The median age was 30.0 years. 32.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 14.7% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 101.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 104.0 males age 18 and over.

83.8% of residents lived in urban areas, while 16.2% lived in rural areas.

There were 1,777 households in Indiantown, of which 46.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 46.0% were married-couple households, 16.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 30.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 19.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 6,083 people, 1,383 households, and 1,029 families residing in the village.

2000 census

As of the census Indiantown is a Village located in Martin County, governed by a village council of five. The Village of Indiantown has a council-manager form of government. The Village of Indiantown selected their first permanent village manager on December 17, 2018.

Public transportation

Martin County Public Transit (MARTY) provides fixed-route bus service through Indiantown.

Parks and recreation

thumb|[[Christophe Clement at Payson Park for a training session]]

Indiantown is the home of Payson Park, one of the top thoroughbred horse racing facilities in the United States. Among the trainers with their champion horses who have participated in this event are William Mott, Christophe Clement, Roger Attfield, Shug McGaughey, John C. Kimmel, and Tom Albertrani. The Monkees frontman, Davy Jones, also kept a stable of thoroughbred horses in Indiantown, and it was here that he died in 2012 on Leap Year Day.

Other parks located within the village are Big Mound Park, Booker Park, Post Family Park, and Timer Powers Park.

Notable people

Charles Emanuel, professional NFL Football player
Cleveland Gary, professional NFL football player
Davy Jones, musician and actor from The Monkees
Corey McIntyre, professional NFL football player
Patrick Sheltra, 2010 ARCA Racing Series racing champion

Notes

References

McIver, Stuart B. (1994), Dreamers, Schemers and Scalawags. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press, Inc.