St. Lucie County land area is 571.93 square miles (2010 Census) and the population is 277,789 (2010 Census).
St. Lucie County is comprised of the City of Fort Pierce (population 41,000, 2008 Census), the City of Port St. Lucie (population 155,251), the community of Hutchinson Island and the St. Lucie Village (population approximately 600).
Fort Pierce is home to Heathcote Botanical Gardens which houses the nation’s largest collection of tropical bonsai trees in the James J. Smith Bonsai Gallery.
The site of HGTV’s 2009 annual green home giveaway was located in the community of Tradition in Port St. Lucie—a dynamic master-planned community conveniently located off Interstate 95.
St. Lucie County has 21 miles of pristine, natural beaches with nearly half being nature preserves—a very rare facet compared to the rest of Florida’s coastline.
The world record sea trout was caught in the Indian River Lagoon in Fort Pierce. It weighed in at a whopping 17+ pounds!
St. Lucie County has nearly 11,000 acres of parks and preserves.
Pineapple farming was the area’s largest agricultural industry throughout the 1800s.
Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie is the spring training home of the New York Mets and home to the St. Lucie Mets.
Fort Pierce is the resting place for Zora Neale Hurston, a famous African-American author who is best known for writing Their Eyes Were Watching God. The book was later made into a movie starring Halle Berry and produced by Oprah Winfrey. Hurston spent her later years in Fort Pierce working as a journalist, teacher and novelist. Eight Dust Track Heritage Trail markers have been erected throughout the city chronicling her life there.
The Indian River Lagoon flows through Fort Pierce, Port St. Lucie and along Hutchinson Island. The lagoon is the most biologically diverse estuary in the United States with over 4,000 species of plants and animals.
The National Navy SEAL Museum & Memorial on North Hutchinson Island in Fort Pierce is the only museum in the world dedicated exclusively to the elite warriors of Naval Special Warfare. It is located on the same site where the Navy Frogmen first trained during WWII.
Frederick Douglass Memorial Beach on Hutchinson Island in Fort Pierce is one of the only places in Florida where you can ride a horse on the beach. For some, it’s truly a once in a lifetime experience.
Port St. Lucie is home to PGA Village, owned and operated by PGA of America and ranked among the ’75 Best Golf Resorts’ by Golf Digest. The village has 54 holes of championship golf with courses designed by Tom Fazio and Pete Dye, the best in golf training and teaching at the state-of-the-art 35-acre PGA Center for Golf Learning and Performance and the one and only PGA Museum of Golf that chronicles the history of the game.
The area’s climate has an average temperature range of 63 to 83 degrees, ideal for year round outdoor activities.
Fort Pierce—
With an environment that feels more like a barbershop than a car lot, Ralph’s Place, one of the oldest car dealerships in the area, brings a sense of comfort to those wanting to buy a car.
“I’ve been in this location for five years, but I’ve been in the area since 1970,” said Ralph Fogg, owner of Ralph’s Place. “This is a great place to be. The weather is wonderful, the people are great and I wouldn’t want to live and work in any other community.”
Bridging the gap between down payment and monthly payment is something that Mr. Fogg and his staff pride themselves on.
“We don’t want someone to come in here and get in over their head,” said James Taylor, Credit manager. “We know times are tough and we know that everyone needs a vehicle to get around. We work with those who work with us. We try to work out a payment schedule that is convenient and also a payment amount that doesn’t leave the customer in bad situation.”
With more than 75 cars, trucks, vans and SUV’s, there are plenty of vehicles to choose from.
“We have a wide assortment of vehicles,” said Mr. Fogg while pointing toward a lot full of shin, tuned –up cars and trucks. “I have a lot of small trucks and we make sure all of our vehicles have been looked over before it is set out on the lot. We take a lot of pride in the vehicles we sell.
Each of the vehicles are inspected by mechanics on the lot. Mr. Fogg said that if a customer has an issue with his or her vehicle, they can bring it in to be serviced.
The laidback friendly environment is sure to make something as stressful as buying a car a pain free experience.
Mr. Fogg and Mr. Taylor are joined by an experienced Sales staff of Mr. Jim Clute, Mr. Ron Collins and Mr. Terry Coffinbarger, Finance Manager. Each of the members of the team are friendly, Caring and don’t give customers a feeling of being hustled. “We’ve all been doing this a long time and we know what that a customer doesn’t want to be smothered,” Mr. Taylor said. “Buying a car is a big deal. We want the customer to know that they are in the right place and making the right decision!”
Ralph’s Place gives every customer peace of mind that that’s exactly what they are doing.
Ralph’s Place is located at 3801 South U S Highway 1 in Ft. Pierce. Stop by, call (772) 878-4060 or check them out at ralphsplacehere.com
3801 S US Hwy 1
Ft. Pierce, FL 34982
772-878-4060