Emergency Crime Scene and Biohazard Cleanup in Vero Beach, FL

Vero Beach is the county seat of Indian River County, a city split by the Indian River Lagoon between the mainland and a barrier island on the Atlantic.

The settlement of Vero was incorporated on June 10, 1919, and renamed Vero Beach on June 1, 1925, the year Indian River County was carved out of St. Lucie County and Vero became its seat.

Early settlers Henry and Sarah Gifford arrived in 1887, and pioneer Waldo Sexton, who came in 1913, went on to build local landmarks including the Driftwood Inn, the Ocean Grill and McKee Jungle Gardens.

McKee Botanical Garden preserves an 18-acre tropical hammock with some 10,000 native and tropical plants and one of the largest waterlily collections in Florida; the garden is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

From 1948 to 2008 - 60 spring trainings - Vero Beach was the spring home of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodgertown, a converted World War II naval air station.

Under Branch Rickey, Dodgertown was the South's first racially integrated spring training camp, where Jackie Robinson and hundreds of players from the Dodgers' minor league teams lived, ate and trained together.

Dodgertown's 6,500-seat Holman Stadium opened in 1953 and is named for local businessman Bud Holman, who convinced the Dodgers to come to Vero Beach.

The historic complex today operates as the Jackie Robinson Training Complex, carrying on the site's baseball legacy under Major League Baseball.

Vero Beach fronts the Indian River Lagoon, described as North America's most biodiverse estuary, and Pelican Island, just north of the city, was designated the nation's first national wildlife refuge.

The hibiscus is Vero Beach's city flower, celebrated each year at the downtown Hibiscus Festival.