Vero Beach is a city in and the seat of Indian River County, Florida, United States. Vero Beach is the second most populous city in Indian River County. Abundant in beaches and wildlife, Vero Beach is located on Florida's Treasure Coast. It is thirty-four miles south of Melbourne, Florida. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 data, the city had a population of 15,220. History Pre-Columbian Parts of a human skeleton were found north of Vero in association with the remains of Pleistocene animals in 1915. The find was controversial, and the view that the human remains dated from much later than the Pleistocene prevailed for many years. In 2006, an image of a mastodon or mammoth carved on a bone was found in vicinity of the Vero man discovery. A scientific forensic examination of the bone found the carving had probably been done in the Pleistocene. Archaeologists from Mercyhurst University, in conjunction with the Old Vero Ice Age Sites Committee (OVIASC), conducted excavations at the Old Vero Man site in Vero Beach in 2014–2015. Starting in 2016, archaeologists from Florida Atlantic University joined the Old Vero Man site excavations. Post-Columbian In 1715, a Spanish treasure fleet wrecked off the coast of Vero. Eleven out of twelve Spanish ships carrying tonnes of silver foundered in a hurricane. The remains of the silver attracted pirates. A group of 300 unemployed English privateers led by Henry Jennings stole about £87,500 in gold and silver in their first acts of piracy. The coins still wash to the shore to this day. In 1872, Captain Allen W. Estes officially established the first land patent between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian River Lagoon, after settling in the area in 1870. In 1893, Henry Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway began operation through the area. The town of Vero was chartered on June 13, 1919. Vero was officially renamed "Vero Beach" and was switched from being part of St. Lucie County to become the county seat of Indian River County when it was formed in June, 1925. There are many theories on possible origin of the city name, but there's no consensus. Early residential construction in the area often utilized Florida cracker architecture style. During the war year of 1942, the U.S. Navy selected surrounding the Vero Beach Municipal Airport as the site of Fort Pierce Naval Amphibious Training Base, a Naval Air Station. Due to