Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: The Ays Indians lived along the confluence of the St. Sebastian and the Indian River (Rio d’ays) when the Spanish arrived in the 1500s. For hundreds of years after that, settlements in the Indian River area were restricted to the coastal areas where citrus, pineapples, and fishing were the primary industries. In 1816, George Fleming, an Irishman who had served in the army of Spanish Florida, received a large land grant on both sides of the St. Sebastian River. This grant was important in the growth of the area. Roseland’s first citizen was Dempsey Cain, who settled on the north side of the river in 1877. Cain is credited with naming the community on the south side of the river Roseland after the wild roses that grew there in abundance. As more settlers arrived, a post office was built in 1892, and in 1893, a depot and water tower were constructed for Henry Flagler’s East Coast Railway. In 1910, the A.A. Berry Land Development Company purchased the remnants of the old Fleming land grant. The original Berry Land Office Building still stands in Roseland, as does the 1926 Roseland Community Center, built of lumber salvaged from the first bridge to cross the St. Sebastian River.