An Interesting Fact About Fort Pierce, Florida And The P.P. Cobb Building

I was in Fort Pierce, Florida yesterday afternoon and took the photograph above of the P.P. Cobb building, which was built in 1882 by the Hogg family as a trading post. I read the historical plaque in front of the building and found out that at the time, it was the only commercial building in Florida between St. Augustine and Key West, which is saying something. That is virtually the entire east coast of Florida. Of course, things started happening fast in Florida right after that, thanks to Henry Flagler. A partner with John D. Rockefeller in the founding of Standard Oil, Flagler resigned from day-to-day operations with the company after a visit to St. Augustine, and in 1888 opened the Ponce de Leon Hotel there. He then built the Florida East Coast Railroad to take wealthy visitors there from up north. Soon he extended the railroad south and founded Palm Beach as a resort and West Palm Beach to house the workers, eventually extending the railway to Miami and Key West. And so very soon, that trading post was no longer the only commercial building between St. Augustine and Key West. The building became the home of a seafood canning company in 1885 and was purchased by Peter P. Cobb in 1896. He turned it into a grocery store, post office, meeting place, and unofficial bank. The town grew around the store, but alas, it did not become a major resort like Palm Beach and Miami. But the building remains, a reminder of what a wilderness this area was when it was built.