Merritt Island and Cocoa Beach (FL) (Images of America)

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 now a commercial and residential center, the careful observer can still find, tucked away in hammocks along the shore and surrounded by million-dollar homes, the old citrus groves, simple homes built by early settlers, and the remnants of small communities that were once hubs of activity. Cocoa Beach owes much of its story to the vision and energy of a single man, Gus Edwards, who promoted the area as a resort to rival the communities of Miami Beach and Venice. With the coming of the space
program to Florida’s Atlantic coast in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the area built upon elaborately drawn subdivision plats and a few scattered buildings to become the bustling modern city it is today.