Next Gen "Deeply Rooted" Honoree Jason Beal's Story Starts on Jungle Trail
- Vero Minute
- Mar 9
- 2 min read
Jason Beal’s story starts on Jungle Trail.
His great‑great‑great‑grandmother and widow of Moses Beal, Adeline Beal, moved from the Ocala area to the Orchid Island side of the Indian River in the 1890s, working that sandy ground first with vegetables, then with citrus as groves spread along what became Jungle Trail.
By the 1920s, that rough track was the growers’ road—about eight miles of hard‑packed sand that citrus families across Orchid Island used to haul fruit to river docks and the railroad. The Beals were part of that daily traffic, sharing the same risks of freezes, disease and price swings that shaped Indian River citrus.
A later generation, led by grower and businessman George W. Beal Jr., owned White Groves in Vero Beach, a packing house and roadside shop once located at 17th Street & US1 that shipped “Indian River” fruit around the country.
Today, Jungle Trail is a protected historic road used mostly by walkers, cyclists and slow‑moving cars looking for river views and a glimpse of old grove country, but it still follows the route families like the Beals once worked.
Jason and his wife, Kelli, now carry that connection forward through Atlantic Coastal Land Title Company, handling title and closings on the same kinds of properties earlier generations of Beals farmed.
Their family is among those featured at the Deeply Rooted gala on April 11, where guests—Tickets $150 per person—can hear more of this history directly from them and other long‑time local families, and support the Heritage Center’s work at the same time.
If you’re reading this first, don’t miss the main Deeply Rooted story for full event details and how to reserve tickets.
