While Brevard County is today an affluent tourist destination, its early history was one of hardship and struggle against adversity. Mosquito-ridden salt marshes to the east and the headwaters of the mighty St. John's River to the west made access hard and survival harder. Indeed, as late as 1870, fewer than 250 people lived between Titusville, near the northern end of the Indian River, and present-day Miami. The Industrial Revolution brought change, and with the arrival of the first steamboat on the lagoon came the first boom period for the region. From a subsistence existence, the area's...

The history of Cocoa and its bedroom community, Rockledge, falls into two time frames: the first is exploration and settlement; the second began in the 1950s when the Space Age began and drastic change ensued. It takes a mighty stretch of the imagination to leap from the founding and settlement of St. Augustine--a few miles north and a few centuries prior--to the incorporation of Cocoa and Rockledge. Of course, over the centuries, there were people in the area--hunters, fisherman, Native Americans, adventurers--but no true settlers until after the War Between the States, when people sought to...

The history of Central Brevard County is almost as long and complicated as the geographical borders of the county itself. Stretching north and south for 77 miles, Brevard County is a thin strip of land, barely 20 miles across at its widest point. Within these narrow confines, however, diverse and dynamic communities have left their marks and many continue to flourish, among them Merritt Island and Cocoa Beach. Only 32 miles in length, Merritt Island was once a scrub-covered parcel of land settled by hardy pioneers who raised cattle and cultivated citrus, vegetable, and pineapple crops. Though...