Packwood Place

Early History

The earliest account currently known to this project that identifies the area later known as Packwood Place comes from Jane Murray Sheldon in her narrative Seminole Attacks Near New Smyrna, 1835–1856. Sheldon dictated the account in 1890.

According to Sheldon, her parents, George Murray and Jane Jenkins Murray, came to Florida in 1803 and took up 600 acres known as the George Murray Grant on the McDugal plantation, a few miles south of New Smyrna. Sheldon specifically identified the property as the place where “F. Packwood” later lived. The Murrays remained there only a short time before leaving because of growing conflict with the Native population. They first moved to St. Augustine and eventually returned to Philadelphia.

Jane Murray Sheldon returned to the Murray Grant with her husband, John Dwight Sheldon, and their children in December 1843. The family initially lived in a tent while clearing the property and constructing a log cabin. John Sheldon later obtained building materials from New York, and within about a year the family had constructed a two-story, six-room house on the hill where Packwood later lived. They also planted an orange grove and raised much of their own food on the property.

In 1849, renewed violence between settlers and Native people at Fort Capron, in present day Fort Pierce, caused several refugees from that area to travel north to the Sheldon home. Concerned for their safety, John Sheldon took his family and the refugees north to Dunlawton, where he found a schooner and sent them to Jane Sheldon, who was then visiting family in Jacksonville.

After troops were sent to the area, John Sheldon informed Jane that he believed it was safe for her to return. She traveled back toward New Smyrna aboard a government steamer, only to discover upon her arrival that the troops had already been sent south to Fort Capron and that her husband had gone with them as a guide. She and her children were left at the hill on the site of Turnbull's Castle, then owned by Mr. Stamps. John Sheldon soon returned but no longer believed it was safe for the family to return to their old home eight miles south. After being appointed Deputy Collector of Customs, he purchased the Stamps property near the inlet, and the family made it their permanent home.

In December 1856, the Sheldons rented their former home eight miles south of New Smyrna to the Shine family of Philadelphia. Mr. and Mrs. Shine and their two children intended to settle there permanently. On December 23, two of the Sheldon sons were returning from the lagoon after hunting wild ducks and planned to stop at the Shine home to give the family some of their catch. As they approached, they discovered that the house had been destroyed by fire. Near the water they found the bodies of Mrs. Shine and her young daughter.

Believing the destruction to have been the result of an attack, the Sheldon sons warned the few settlers then living at Oak Hill, including E. K. Lowd, John Lowd, and their uncle Arad Sheldon, before returning to New Smyrna with the news. Neighbors later investigated the property and found Mr. Shine's body behind the hill and the remains of the young son inside the burned house. The victims were taken to New Smyrna for burial. Sheldon attributed the attack to a group of Native raiders and described it as the last such raid in that part of the region.

The name Packwood Place appears to come from the Packwood family. At the time Jane Sheldon dictated her account in 1890, she described the former Murray and Sheldon property as the place where F. Packwood lived. Little information about the Packwood family has yet been located. A Mary Elgin Bruce Packwood (1850–1887) is buried in Edgewater Cemetery, although her relationship to F. Packwood and other members of the Packwood family has not yet been established.

Packwood Place Oyster House

By the mid-20th century, Packwood Place had become best known as Packwood Place Oyster House, a seasonal restaurant operated by the Clinton family along the Indian River. According to a 1986 Orlando Sentinel article, Seth Clinton began steaming oysters at the property in 1949.. At the time, oysters cost about $1.50 per bushel, and the restaurant was little more than a tin roof supported by poles over a dirt floor. Customers were expected to dress warmly and bring their own side dishes.

Over time, the operation became more established while retaining its rustic character. By 1986, the oyster house had an enclosed wooden building with floors, walls, and heating, but remained deliberately informal. The dining room contained long homemade tables, and meals were served on plastic plates. The restaurant did little advertising beyond a wooden sign along U.S. Highway 1 directing customers down a sandy road toward the river.

The oyster house was operated by Seth and Esther Clinton and their son Terry. Terry had begun helping at the restaurant at about six years old, cleaning tables and washing oysters, and later took over much of the cooking using his mother's recipes. Esther worked at the beer and soft drink booth, while Seth purchased provisions for the restaurant.

Packwood Place operated only during oyster season, generally from October through April or May, and customers were required to make reservations. Dinner was usually served once or twice each evening depending on demand. The restaurant specialized in large groups, although smaller parties could also be accommodated when another sufficiently large reservation had been made.

The restaurant offered essentially one meal: an all-you-can-eat seafood dinner. Diners began with chowder and hush puppies, followed by raw oysters, which customers could shuck themselves or pay to have shucked. Other dishes included cole slaw, salad, baked beans, boiled shrimp, and fried flounder. Steamed oysters were then brought directly to the tables in large rubber dishpans and replenished as often as diners wanted.

Oysters remained the centerpiece of the experience. Terry Clinton recalled that some customers were capable of eating an entire bushel, approximately 12 to 15 dozen oysters, by themselves. In a typical week, Packwood Place could serve around 70 bushels.

The Clintons developed their own methods for preparing oysters in large quantities. The restaurant used a specially designed steamer created by an engineering student who was a family friend. Cooking times were adjusted according to the weather, with the first batch of each evening used to determine how long the oysters should be steamed.

Seth and Terry Clinton also maintained small oyster beds in the Indian River. By the 1980s, however, the family said that development and pollution had reduced the availability of local oysters. Most of the restaurant's oysters were consequently being brought in from Alabama, although locally harvested oysters were used whenever possible.

Despite its isolated location and limited advertising, Packwood Place became a popular gathering place for both local residents and visitors. The restaurant hosted wedding parties, company dinners, family reunions, and civic gatherings. Visitors associated with the Kennedy Space Center and racing crews and fans attending events at Daytona International Speedway were among its customers. New Smyrna Beach residents returning home for the holidays also developed a tradition of gathering at Packwood Place between Christmas and New Year's Day.

By 1986, reservations were often made months or even years in advance, particularly during the restaurant's busiest months of December and February. The Clinton family attributed the restaurant's longevity to its family atmosphere, personal service, and commitment to serving fresh food .