Winter Beach is a census-designated place (CDP) in Indian River County, Florida, United States. The population was 2,067 at the 2010 census, up from 965 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Sebastian–Vero Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Winter Beach is located in eastern Indian River County at (27.714,-80.424). It is bordered to the north by Wabasso and to the south by Gifford. To the east, across the Indian River, is the town of Indian River Shores on Orchid Island. U.S. Route 1 passes through the center of Winter Beach, leading north to Sebastian and south to Vero Beach, the county seat. According to the United States Census Bureau, the Winter Beach CDP has a total area of , of which , or 0.22%, are water. History Winter Beach was originally established as the town of Woodley in the late 1890s. In 1902, the community's name was changed to Quay, in honor of Senator Matthew S. Quay of Pennsylvania. Senator Quay had introduced a Senate bill to widen and deepen the Intracoastal Waterway, which the community thought would be of benefit. Senator Quay was a winter resident of St. Lucie Village, just north of Fort Pierce, where his old home still stands. In 1922 the name of the community was changed for promotional purposes to Winter Beach, "Where the Sunshine Spends the Winter". In 1925, Indian River County was established, and Winter Beach almost became the county seat, however the then-town of Vero (now Vero Beach) became an incorporated city and was selected as the county seat. Portions of Winter Beach were still enumerated as Quay in the 1940 census. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 965 people, 373 households, and 298 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 405 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 97.20% White, 1.45% African American, 0.41% Native American, 0.62% Asian, and 0.31% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.87% of the population. There were 373 households, out of which 23.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.8% were married couples living together, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.1% were non-families. 15.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of