Alex MacWilliam, Sr.
(1891-1966)

Died aged c. 75

Alex MacWilliam, Sr., was born May 25, 1891 in Edinburgh, Scotland. His family later immigrated to Cleveland, Ohio. In 1919, he decided to move to Vero Beach where he helped build the Riomar subdivision and Riomar Country Club. He was elected to the Vero Beach City Council from 1925 to 1927, then served as mayor of Vero Beach (1927 to 1945 and 1949 to 1951). As mayor he helped establish Vero Beach as the county seat, helped write and pass the city’s first planning and zoning ordinance, and initiated a bond issue to expand the Indian River County School system. While serving as mayor, he also served 13 years as Indian River County’s State Representative and as Justice of the Peace. As State Representative he sponsored legislation to create Florida’s first veteran’s hospital; was responsible for building the Stephen Foster Memorial in White Springs; and supported the building of State Route 60. He also was responsible for the Memorial Island Sanctuary honoring Indian River County’s dead war veterans. Alex MacWilliam died August 13, 1966.

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