C. P. Singleton, a Harvard University zoologist, discovered the bones of a Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) on his property along Crane Creek, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Melbourne, and brought in Amherst College paleontologist Frederick B. Loomis to excavate the skeleton.

Loomis found in the same stratum mammoth, mastodon, horse, ground sloth, tapir, peccary, camel and saber-tooth cat bones, all extinct in Florida since the end of the Pleistocene 10,000 years ago.

At a nearby site a human rib and charcoal were found in association with Mylodon, Megalonyx and Chlamytherium (ground sloths) teeth.

[3] Similar human remains, Pleistocene animals and Paleo-Indian artifacts have been found in the general locale, consistent with these discoveries.

That year, Flagler built a railway through the county, which transcended all other means of transportation until the arrival of autos and paved roads in the 1920s.

[8] Two year later, on April 5, 1922, the Crane Creek Drainage Improvement District was officially filed by the Secretary of State of Florida,[9] and bids were sought in the summer of 1922 to begin canal development.