Topographical Survey in Gifford, FL

The settlement of Gifford was organized in the mid-1880s, according to the Indian River County Historical Society. The area was named as the Woodley precinct in the 1900 census, and as a settlement village for black families, the community grew. By 1893, the early settlers of Gifford had been joined by black laborers who had come to work on Henry Flagler’s new railroad project, the Florida East Coast Railway. The residents named the small agricultural community Brownsville after farmer William Brown who settled there in 1880s, but another town in North Florida carried the same name. Instead, the community was named after Charlie Gifford, the railroad’s stationmaster and Henry T. Gifford’s son. There are a number of pioneer families who are a permanent part of the fabric of Indian River County, most notably the Gipson (Gibson), Hudson, Sharpton, Lundy, Jackson, McGriff, Hart, York, Bryant, Mayes, Moore and Williams families.

The town’s first school was built in 1898, but only served white children. In 1901 William Edward Geoffrey, a black man from Darlington, South Carolina who had came to work on the railroad, set up school for black children.

In 2018, the Historic Macedonia Church was converted into the Gifford Historical Museum by the Gifford Community Cultural & Resource Center (GCCRC).