Sebastian's bird man: how Paul Kroegel helped make Pelican Island the first wildlife refuge

Drive along Indian River Drive and look east across the lagoon. Out there is a small mangrove island that changed American history. And the man who protected it was a Sebastian neighbor.

His name was Paul Kroegel. He was a boat builder and farmer, not a politician. But he helped make Pelican Island the first national wildlife refuge in the United States.

A homestead on the river

Kroegel was born in Chemnitz, Germany, in 1864 and came to Sebastian with his father as a teenager. According to county historian Ruth Stanbridge, writing for the Indian River County Historical Society, his father filed for a homestead in 1881 with sons Paul and Arthur, among the first in the area.

Paul made his home on Barker's Bluff, a large shell mound left by the Ais people on the west bank of the Indian River. From there he could see a tiny mangrove island where hundreds of brown pelicans roosted and nested.

Plume hunters and a man with a boat

In those days, feathers were big business. Plume hunters shot wading birds to supply the fashion industry, and people on passing yachts shot birds too. There were no laws protecting the birds.

Kroegel tried to stop it anyway. The historical society account says he flew a flag at his dock and sometimes fired his gun as a warning to boats getting too close. In 1893 the American Ornithologists' Union made him a game warden, and other accounts say the Florida Audubon Society recognized him as the island's warden in 1902.

In March 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt signed an executive order setting aside Pelican Island as a federal bird reservation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service calls it the nation's first national wildlife refuge, created to protect the last remaining nesting habitat for brown pelicans and other wading birds on the East Coast.

On April 1, 1903, Kroegel was appointed the first warden. His pay was $1 a month, so he kept building boats and farming. He also served as a county commissioner for what was then northern St. Lucie County, from 1905 to 1918. He kept watch over the birds for the rest of his life and died in 1948.

What Pelican Island is today

Congress named Pelican Island a wilderness area in 1970. The Fish and Wildlife Service says the refuge now covers more than 5,400 acres of protected waters and lands and gives feeding, nesting and roosting areas to more than 130 bird species. You can see the island from the refuge's overlook on the barrier island.

The best time to see migrating white pelicans and nesting brown pelicans, the refuge says, is fall through spring. In other words, the season is just starting.

Where to find Kroegel's story around Sebastian

1. The statue. A statue of Paul Kroegel stands in Riverview Park at 516 Indian River Drive, along the river. It was unveiled in 2003, the refuge's 100th year.
2. The grave. Kroegel is buried in the Sebastian Municipal Cemetery at 1921 N. Central Avenue. A 2022 state historical marker there tells how the cemetery began on the land of August Park, the Sebastian area's first permanent resident of European descent, and names Kroegel among those buried there.
3. The overlook. The refuge's Centennial Trail is about three-quarters of a mile, ADA accessible, and ends at a boardwalk and observation tower that looks out over Pelican Island. The refuge's public areas are on Jungle Trail off A1A, about 3.3 miles south of Sebastian Inlet; the Centennial Trail address is 11455 Jungle Trail.
4. The visit page lists public areas as open daily from 7:30 a.m. until sunset; check before you go. There is no drinking water, so bring your own, plus sunscreen and bug spray. Bikes and pets are not allowed on the trails; service animals are.
5. Free volunteer Meet and Greet sessions run Fridays from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Centennial Trailhead through December 26, 2026. No reservation needed.
6. Questions? The refuge's email is pelicanisland@fws.gov and its phone is 772-581-5557. If you find injured wildlife at home, the refuge cannot care for it; call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 888-404-3922.

Next time you are at Riverview Park, find the statue and then look out at the water. The brown pelicans gliding past are part of the reason Sebastian is on the map.