Cocoa and Rockledge (Images of America: Florida)

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 make a new life in a new place. Geographically, the area featured in this volume includes Cocoa to the north, the Indian River to the east, Pineda to the south, and the St. Johns River to the west, the only river in the United States that flows north. Once famous for citrus, fishing, tourism, and mosquitoes, the space program and its service industries now dominate the economy of the area.