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Crayola’s tie to Fort Pierce

This is Paul Janensch with a Treasure Coast Essay about the connection between Fort Pierce and Crayola crayons.  I learned about it in the spring issue of Indian River Magazine.  The connection is Edwin Binney, born in 1866, 150 years ago, in Westchester County, New York.  In 1905, he and his business partner Harold Smith produced the first box of Crayola wax crayons.  The name is from the French words for chalk and oily.  In 1911, Binney and his family started spending time in St. Lucie County.  Their home Florindia still stands on Indrio Road.  Binney loved boating and fishing.  He led the efforts to dredge the Fort Pierce Inlet, start the Port of Fort Pierce and, during the Depression, save the St. Lucie County Bank.  Binney died in 1934.  Oddly enough, he was color-blind.  I’m Paul Janensch.