The St. Lucie Inlet, Florida is located between Hutchinson Island

Hutchinson Island

Hutchinson Island is a barrier island on the coast of Martin and St. Lucie counties, Florida. The southern one-third of Hutchinson Island is in Martin County while the northern two-thirds is in St. Lucie County. It is bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the St...

 and Jupiter Island

Jupiter Island

Jupiter Island is a barrier island on the coast of Martinand Palm Beach counties, Florida. It is bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the north by the St. Lucie Inlet, on the west by the Indian River, and on the south by the Jupiter Inlet...

 in Martin County, Florida

Martin County, Florida

Martin County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 126,731. The U.S. Census Bureau 2008 estimate for the county is 138,660. Its county seat is Stuart, Florida.- History :...

, at coordinates 27°09′58"N 80°09′24"W. The St. Lucie Inlet is one of six inlets into the Indian River Lagoon

Indian River Lagoon

The Indian River Lagoon is a grouping of three lagoons: Mosquito Lagoon, Banana River, and the Indian River, on the Atlantic Coast of Florida. It was originally named Rio de Ais after the Ais Indian tribe, who lived along the east coast of Florida....

.

The St. Lucie Inlet appeared on maps in 1500 and 1683. It was the site of the Ais

Ais (tribe)

The Ais, or Ays were a tribe of Native Americans who inhabited the Atlantic Coast of Florida. They ranged from present day Cape Canaveral to the St. Lucie Inlet, in the present day counties of Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie and northernmost Martin...

 town of Santa Lucea, which Jonathan Dickinson

Jonathan Dickinson

Jonathan Dickinson was a Quaker merchant from Port Royal, Jamaica who was shipwrecked on the southeast coast of Florida in 1696, along with his family and the other passengers and crew members of the ship....

's party passed through in 1696. As is true for most inlets between barrier islands, the inlet closed and opened repeatedly in the past through natural process. The inlet has been kept open for the past century-and-a-half by frequent dredging.

External links

• City of Stuart - aerial photo of the inlet
• [ USGS Geographic Names Information System Feature Detail Report - Saint Lucie Inlet]