Over a hundred years ago, a Danish military hero, revolutionary and Socialist visionary named Louis Albert Francois Pio dreamed of establishing Danish communities across America. After a series of setbacks in his homeland, Pio arrived in the United States from Denmark, eventually gaining great standing with Danish immigrants. So much so, President Grover Cleveland named him assistant director of the Chicago Customs House. It was there, in 1892 that Pio became associated with the Florida Exhibit at the Chicago Worlds Fair, the Columbian Exposition. The Columbian Exposition was also known as the “White City” due to its white walls and bright lights. The Florida Exhibit portion of the fair was organized by men of the likes of Henry Flagler, and as part of this relationship, Pio conceived of a Danish settlement in Florida. Unbeknownst to Pio, another Dane, John Lawrence Jensen had already started a settlement on the Treasure Coast, known today as Jensen Beach.

With Flagler’s blessing, Pio created the Florida Cosmopolitan Immigration Company to attract settlers to one of the last remaining frontiers in the United States. In March, 1893, Pio left for Florida with five other men to search for a site for the new settlement. They road Flagler’s train to Titusville, then took a steamer to Jensen where they rented skiffs and rowed up the North Fork of the St. Lucie River. Legend has it that White City was sited when one of the men on the oars decided that he had rowed enough. After scouting the high and dry land around the river, they decided to buy several square miles from Flagler for their new settlement. Later, a band of 50 settlers arrived to start the colony, and named the town “White City” because of their previous impressions from the World’s Fair. The main road was then named “Midway Road”, not for its location, but for its reference to the World’s Fair’s electrified midway.

In 1894 the new colony was enviously described by a northern periodical as “… a magnificent location on the St. Lucie River on a bluff that extends for several miles along the water…the land on which the city is to stand…is high rolling pine and rich hammock – altogether a marvelously beautiful section of the country.” In May of 1894, the big unveiling of White City was held, with extensive time and effort going into the festivity’s preparation. As part of the grand event, the official ship of the new “Immigrant Hotel” was towed down the Indian River and up the St. Lucie to White City. This was no small task, as it required the Florida East Coast Railroad to temporarily dismantle its railroad bridge at Stuart at a cost of $500. The ship was then able to maneuver its way down to the St. Lucie River and was docked on the riverfront in what now is the White City Park.

From that moment on, the history of White City was a conglomeration of successes and failures, including a short stint of a mysterious Colonel Meyers who was the owner and developer of the town’s first hotel, as who was also the town’s first postmaster. The Colonel later disappeared on an infamous trip to New York with the entire life savings of all of the White City settlers. There were other sagas of murder, intrigue, arson and even a ghost that was said to haunt the Tumblin Kling Road hammock.

Today, many of the historic buildings that played a role in the City’s colorful history still stand today in one form or another. Among them include the city’s second elementary school, the “White City Mercantile” building, and the “Dutton Memorial Church.” The latter two buildings are located immediately within the Midway Road corridor.