History of Brevard County, Florida
The History of Brevard County can be traced to the prehistory of native cultures living in the area from pre-Columbian times to the present age.
The coast of Florida was about 100 miles (160 km) wider[1] and the Indian River was simply a lower point on dry land.
peninsular Florida resembled the land of today; in shape, climate, fauna, and flora.
"[1][3] These people were primarily fishermen, as opposed to the hunting and gathering way of life which characterized the Paleoindians.
[citation needed] The Ais and the Jaega were the dominant tribes in the area when it is thought that Ponce De Leon landed on the shores near Melbourne Beach in 1513.
[6] Pedro Menéndez de Avilés gave an early account of the Ais people in 1570 when he was shipwrecked off of Cape Canaveral.
He helped establish a "Period of Friendship" with the Ais Caciques(Chiefs) and made a color map of the area.
[8] Heavy mosquito infestation and the threat of Indian attacks kept the area from having any permanent white settlements.
Spanish ships laden with gold would travel via the gulf stream, and British pirates would hide in the then-remote waters off of the coast of Florida.
In 1837, Fort Ann was established on the eastern shore of the Indian River on a narrow strip of land on Merritt Island.
[10] The original county seat was located at Susannah, an early name for present day Fort Pierce.
In 1870, the Barber–Mizell feud erupted due to resentment over Reconstruction, a boundary dispute with Orange County, and cattle taxation.
By the 1880s, the cities along the Indian River included Melbourne, Eau Gallie, Titusville, Rockledge, and Cocoa.
[1] People flooded into the state of Florida, both tourists from northern winters and new full-time residents, and land prices soared.
Before the start of World War II, the largest industries in Brevard were commercial fishing, citrus, and tourism.
[12][13] In 1940, the government built Naval Air Station Banana River (now Patrick Space Force Base).
This military installation was the first of major federal investment in projects to aid the development of Brevard County.
The federal government also funded construction of what is now Florida State Road A1A, paralleling the ocean and providing vehicle access to the NAS.
[15] As in the rest of the state and most of the South, African Americans in the county were largely disenfranchised and oppressed by Jim Crow conditions, but beginning to organize to restore their constitutional rights.
Beginning in the 1930s, Harry T. Moore was a civil rights leader, teacher, and founder of the Brevard County NAACP.
The white establishment resisted, firing both him and his wife Harriette in 1946 from their teaching positions as economic blackmail against them because of their activism.
This helped stimulate development in the county; where Brevard had once been considered a "backwoods" area of Florida, it attracted more educated workers and scientists associated with the program.
Locals were concerned that the construction of malls would draw off business and lead to the disintegration of the Cocoa, Melbourne and Titusville downtowns.
This did happen, but the downtown areas have been revived in the 21st century based on their historic assets and pedestrian scale.
[18] While the county was technically habitable, it was overrun by mosquitoes much of the year in the wet areas covering a great portion of its territory.
Mosquitoes were controlled in 1950 by widespread use of the insecticide, DDT, which was banned in the late 20th century because of its adverse environmental effects.
Since construction of the new center, Viera has been for all intents and purposes the de facto seat of Brevard County.
It also developed a policy of controlled burns based on more understanding of fire's role in the state's environment.
In 2004, Brevard had its best October and November tourism season until then, despite widespread hurricane damage and the loss of five beachside hotels.
The Milken Institute ranked Brevard number one, out of 200 largest metropolitan areas, in overall job growth for 2005.
