Editing Port Salerno, Florida (section)

==History==
In the 1920s, a small settlement was created in the southern shores of St. Lucie river inlet. It was named "Salerno" because of its visual resemblance to the Italian city of [[Salerno]] as observed by an early visitor. Early settlers were fisherman who lived along the banks of the Manatee Pocket, a small natural bay in the St. Lucie River. Some descendants of these original settlers remain in the area, with some families owning land for over 100 years.

The area increased in population and importance after [[World War II]], with many people from the northeastern United States moving to Florida. In 1960, the name was changed to "Port Salerno", in order to differentiate it from that of the Italian city.

The 1967 film [[Gentle Giant (film)|''Gentle Giant'']] was partially filmed in and around Port Salerno. The only grocery store in town was P.O. Smith's Grocery, which was housed in a small wooden building at the intersection of Snake Road (later renamed Salerno Road) and Route A1A. This grocery store was featured in the production<ref>Luckhardt, Alice L. and Greg E., [http://www.tcpalm.com/news/historical-vignettes-salerno-benjamin-w-mulfords-u "Historical Vignettes: Salerno: Benjamin W. Mulford's Utopia"], ''[[Treasure Coast Newspapers]]'', TCPalm.com, Jun. 10, 2013. Retrieved June 22, 2015.</ref> in [[Palm Beach Gardens, Florida|Palm Beach Gardens]],<ref name=afi>Munden, Kenneth White, ed. [https://books.google.com/books?id=s1k1RsGvFwwC&pg=PA392 ''American Film Institute Catalog: Feature Films 1961-1970''.] Univ. of Calif. Press, 1976, p. 392. {{ISBN|0-520-20970-2}}.</ref>  but had been transformed into a saloon before being filmed. This was because the grocery store had swinging "saloon style" doors.

In the 1970s, the Manatee Hotel was transformed into the Manatee Resort upon purchase by Michael Reynolds, heir to the [[R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company|R. J. Reynolds]] tobacco fortune. [[Sally Field]] mentioned the town and resort in an interview with Johnny Carson on ''The Tonight Show''.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}

In the 1980s, the Chastain Campus of [[Indian River State College]] was established. Port Salerno is known for their "World Fishing Tournaments", based on the yacht port.<ref>[http://www.portsalerno.com/fishing.html  Port Salerno World Fishing Tournaments]</ref>

On October 9, 2024, Port Salerno was hit by [[Hurricane Milton tornado outbreak|two tornadoes]] which were spawned by [[Hurricane Milton]]. The first tornado was an EF1, and the second tornado was an EF2. Both tornadoes caused damage in the community and struck within two hours of each other.