Mt. Elizabeth, Ais Indians and Racey Family Plantation
According to archaeologists, Mt. Elizabeth is a 4,000 year-old Indian mound created by the Ais Indians. The mound, which was originally 60-feet high, contains broken pottery, tools, fish bone and shell ornaments and other discarded items used their daily lives. Mt. Elizabeth and the surrounding property were purchased by explorer William Henry Racey in the late 1850’s. In 1891, his son, Charles Racey, built a three-story wood-frame house on the mound for his family and started a pineapple and citrus plantation on the property. The Racey family sold the property to a New York Judge after the home burned to the ground in 1921.

The Leach Family and Tuckahoe
In 1936, Atlanta businessman Willaford Leach and his wife Anne Bates Leach, a Coca Cola heiress, purchased Mt. Elizabeth and the surrounding property and built the Mediterranean Revival home that exists today. Named “Tuckahoe” (thought to be a Native American term for “Welcome”), the estate was completed in 1939 with the latest in architectural design for that time. Sitting on approximately 54 acres of riverfront woodland and rolling lawns, Tuckahoe was the hub of social life in Martin County and the setting for countless parties attended by the local social set and WWII soldiers from Camp Murphy. Mrs. Leach, who helped to start The Garden Club, also donated the funds necessary to build the original building for the well-known Bascomb Palmer Eye Institute in Miami.

Catholic Church – Florida Institute of Technology
The Leach family moved to Palm Beach in 1950 and sold The Mansion and surrounding property to the Catholic Church for use as a Novitiate of the Sisters of St. Joseph. The Sisters later operated Florida’s only 2-year liberal arts college until 1972 when the entire property was purchased by Florida Institute of Technology (FIT), a 4-year college offering degrees in marine science. The Mansion became the college’s administrative offices and Rathskeller.

Indian RiverSide Park
After closing FIT in 1986, The Mansion and surrounding property stood vacant for more than a decade until local community leaders led a referendum drive to encourage Martin County to purchase the property. Purchased by the County in 1997, the property became the site of Indian RiverSide Park with the first phase opening to the public in 2001. Phase 2 includes restoration of The Mansion at Tuckahoe for public use. Restoration is underway and the project is expected to be completed in late 2009 or early 2010.