City of Stuart Historic Preservation Program

Our historical structure has been listed with the Florida Master Site File, the State of Florida’s official inventory of historical, cultural resources, since the early 1990s. Our state assigned ID No: MT00346. Address: 311 SW 3rd St., Stuart, Fl 34994. Since the summer of 2019, when we bought the building, we have been actively sharing it’s the amazing history with the community, inviting to visit us! We are grateful to our local historians and writers, Alice L. Luckhardt and Sandra Henderson Thurlow, for their research on the first community church in Stuart built in 1895, to our local artist, to our sponsors, and to all of you for your support and interest in our historic building, it’s maintenance, restoration, preservation, and hopefully, one day, we will restore the steeple!

City of Stuart Community Redevelopment Plan

Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Amended Plan 2019-20 (PDF)

Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Historic Preservation (PDF)

Historic downtowns and neighborhoods possess those elements that create livable, viable communities by encouraging mixed-use and more compact development by encouraging mixed-use and more compact development. Historic neighborhoods have traditionally proved themselves to stabilize and increase property values.

Stuart has several examples of both private and public historic preservation projects that are successful and benefit the character of the community, including the Stuart Feed Store, Woodman Hall, the Flagler Recreation Center Building, the Arcade Building and the Lyric Theatre. The following subdivisions or areas are considered historic districts: Kitchings Addition, Potsdam, Frazier Addition, Historic Downtown, Feroe Subdivisions, Woodlawn Park and Porters Addition.

The program’s intent is to educate the general public as to the benefits of historic preservation to generate support for the CRA’s preservation activities and to encourage preservation both in the
neighborhoods as well as the commercial areas.
Program Objectives
• Preserve the heritage of Stuart;
• Use historic preservation as a tool for economic
restructuring;
• Utilize historic preservation to combat and eliminate blight;
• Encourage restoration and maintenance of historic
buildings;
• Maintain and restore all public historic buildings;
• Encourage the compatibility of historic structures and new
structures in residential and commercial areas.
• Utilize the historical architectural styles of Stuart as a
reference for new construction styles; and
• Provide sites for historic buildings displaced by
redevelopment.

The City shall maintain and update its inventory of historic and archeological resources completed in 2002 and shall encourage establishment of local historic districts and landmark designation as resources permit. The following policies support this objective:

Policy B1.1. Land availability for relocation. The City shall pursue making land available for relocation of historically significant buildings threatened by redevelopment.

Policy B1.2. Adaptive reuse. In revising its Land Development Code to be consistent with this Comprehensive Plan, the City shall adopt a policy or policies to encourage property owners to actively use their historical properties for homes, offices, museums, or other uses appropriate to the preservation of the building. The City shall review its land development regulations to ensure that City policies do not unduly restrict a property owner from active use of an historic property whose historic values have been preserved or restored.

Lorrie Goss, Clay Fine Art, and Olga Hamilton welcomes you to the historic building.

Policy B1.3. Support to owners. The City shall encourage property owners of historically significant housing to seek preservation assistance through supportive educational programs, tax abatement, and assistance with State processing.

Policy B1.4. Historic preservation. The City shall encourage and cooperate with historic preservation efforts to develop and promote public programs and resources which increase awareness of historic places and cultural and historical activities.

Policy B1.5. The City shall continue utilizing historic data as identified in its City-wide survey, and may be amended from time to time, in order to promote awareness of historic places and sites.

Policy B1.6. Through its Land Development Code, the City shall continue to encourage historic preservation through voluntary means and incentives.

In memory of Alice L. Luckhardt, The 1895 Church of StuArt and the artists donate 20% of sales of the art related to our local history to the Stuart Heritage Museum.

**“The Lyric Theater, C. 1920” by Janis Clary “O”**

“Old Colorado Inn” by **Dinija Berkien**

**“The 1895 Church of Stuart” by Lorrie Goss, Clay Fine Arts**

**“Gathering at The First Community Church in Stuart, 1895” by Olga Hamilton**

“All Saints Episcopal Church in Jensen Beach” by Olga Hamilton

The 1895 Church of StuArt Fine Art for sale, Martin County, Florida

Olga Hamilton. Art & Relics Sale to benefit the steeple restoration on the historic building

The 1895 Church of StuArt - historical building in Downtown Stuart, Martin County, Florida. Local history and fine art on the Treasure Coast

THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATION!

The 1895 Church of StuArt is a historical building of the first community church, also known as the Pioneer Church (the oldest church building in Martin County), built in Stuart in 1895! Your donations help us maintain, restore, and preserve the building, and also continue our research and share historical information and articles. We greatly appreciate your support! The donations are not tax deductible.