It is rumored that a party of men set out at night to plug up the Inlet. Here we come upon an interesting tale one that divulges a destruction crew organized by influential area residents who were opposed to the Inlet to protect grove, cattle farms and railroad interests. The District’s archives include a photo showing the last plug of land left prior to the opening of 1918. The seventh attempt to open an Inlet began.Ĭouch built a six-inch suction dredge and hired Charles W. The Association would be responsible for removing the shoals, a $10,000 bond was to be posted, and the permit would expire on December 31, 1918, an unthinkably short time frame for the task at hand. Just two days later, the War Department issued a conditional permit to dig the Sebastian Inlet. Couch persisted.ġ918 - On April 25, 1918, local residents in favor of an inlet formed the Sebastian Inlet Association and all of Couch’s lobbying and determination paid off. With the majority of Northern Brevard County’s residents against it, the bill was defeated on the November ballot. The Hughlett-Rodes bill called for a special election to let the voters in Brevard County decide whether to allocate tax money for continued engineering studies of the Sebastian Inlet’s feasibility. A friend and sympathetic ear was elected to the State Senate, Dr. Couch persisted.ġ916-1917 - As World War I raged on, several things aligned in Couch’s favor. The Corps insisted that for approval a local tax district would have to be created to raise funds for the inlet’s maintenance. They were obliged to maintain the East Coast Canal and did not want to incur the added expense of dredging sand shoals that would form. Army Corps of Engineers would not issue the needed War Department permit because it objected to the idea of an inlet in Sebastian. With northern Brevard residents against it, a plan to split the county was carried to Tallahassee to no avail. The effort didn’t lead anywhere.ġ915 - The inlet was a hot topic. Roy Couch was among those who spoke in favor and was likely instrumental in putting the petition drive together. 100 signatures were gathered and a delegation of 40 individuals from southern Brevard County presented it to the Brevard County Commission at their April 1914 meeting. In 1914, a petition was circulated asking for an appropriation of $1,200 to open an inlet. Pierce Tribune, it wasn’t long before the Inlet again filled with sand.ġ909-1914 - The Indian River Lagoon’s water quality steadily declined. No other man would persevere the way Couch did to get a permanent inlet open, and though that sixth attempt was successful, as reported in the Ft. Couch - a figure whose name is synonymous with the Sebastian Inlet - arrived in Brevard County. Gibson’s attempt predated New’s and historians believe that first known attempt took place in 1872.ġ905 - At least six substantiated attempts to open a “cut” were made by 1905, and all were closed by sand, storms and other natural causes almost as soon as they were opened.Ĭoinciding with that sixth recorded attempt in 1905, Roy O. Combined with other material evidence, we know D.P. Geodetic Survey Map in the District’s historical collection that was drawn in the winter of 1880-81 shows “Gibson’s Cut” as a feature. Gibson.įor many years, it was believed that Reverend Thomas New was the first to attempt a “cut” in 1881 after founding the town that would become Sebastian. Among those settlers were two men – Reverend Thomas New and D.P. The first settlers begin to arrive in the Sebastian River area in the mid-1800s, and by all accounts, there were numerous attempts to open a “cut” or an inlet on the barrier island from the Indian River to the Atlantic Ocean near what is present-day Sebastian Inlet.
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