Stuart, Florida

The city of Stuart had a mascot in the 1920s, an alligator named Dirty Ben, according to historians.

The gator was kept in a fenced pool area in the park between Southwest Flagler Avenue and Southwest Osceola Street, before buildings were constructed in that area, and Dirty Ben actually was considered by some to be Stuart's mascot.

About 50 years later, H.D. Worth, at one time a concert band and orchestra director in Stuart, recalled that an alligator somehow escaped the enclosure, and while attempting to cross the railroad tracks, lost part of its tail to a passing train.