St. Lucie Village, FL

St. Lucie Village is a narrow St. Lucie County town on Florida's Treasure Coast, running north-south between US 1 and the Indian River Lagoon. The 2020 census counted 613 residents. The settlement dates to 1843, but the town incorporated in 1961 when residents wanted local control over land use. Its 2.6-mile length is crossed by the Florida East Coast Railway and Old Dixie Highway, so the village runs as a long roadside community, with the lagoon on one side and US 1 on the other.

The oldest section is the St. Lucie Village Historic District, with 33 contributing homes and structures and an oldest surviving house from 1875. Indian River Drive carries the historic edge, while Port St. Lucie and Fort Pierce provide the larger service and work centers around it. St. Lucie Village has the feel of a place that chose to stay small on purpose: the railroad, lagoon, and Old Dixie route still fit inside a town whose main job is keeping its old line of houses and land-use boundary intact.