History of Brevard County, Florida facts for kids
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. Brevard County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida, along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. The geographic boundaries of the county have changed significantly since its founding. The county is named for Judge Theodore W. Brevard, an early settler, and state comptroller, and was originally named St. Lucie County until 1855. The official county seat has been located in Titusville since 1894, although most of the county's administration is performed from Viera.
Contents
History
Precolumbian
The first Paleoindians arrived in the area near Brevard county between 12,000 and 10,000 years ago. The Paleoindians were semi-nomadic people who lived in smaller groups. At that time, the earth was warming from its most recent ice age. The climate of the area then was very different from now; it was similar to that of Great Britain today. The area which today is Brevard County was probably not coastal at this period in time. The coast of Florida was about 100 miles (160 km) wider and the Indian River was simply a lower point on dry land.
After a few thousand years, perhaps by around 3000 B.C. peninsular Florida resembled the land of today; in shape, climate, fauna, and flora. The ocean had risen enough to flood the Indian River with salt water.
About this time, a new group of settlers appeared known as "the archaic people." These people were primarily fishermen, as opposed to the hunting and gathering way of life which characterized the Paleoindians. It is believed that these were the ancestors of the Native Americans who would come in contact with the Europeans when they arrived.
From Spanish rule to statehood
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. There were about 10,000 of these natives in the area.
In 1565, French survivors from Jean Ribault's Fort Caroline whose ship the Trinite wrecked on the shores of Cape Canaveral and from whose timbers, a fort was built.
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés gave an early account of the Ais Indians in 1570 when he was shipwrecked off of Cape Canaveral. He faced hostile natives but though the use of a bluff was able to escape from them and get back to St. Augustine.
In 1605, Alvero Mexia was dispatched from St. Augustine to the Indian River area on a diplomatic mission to the Ais Indian Nation. He helped establish a "Period of Friendship" with the Ais Caciques(Chiefs) and made a color map of the area.
Heavy mosquito infestation and the threat of Indian attacks kept the area from having any permanent white settlements. The Spanish quickly left the area, but left a deadly reminder of their visit: European diseases. In 1763, the Spanish took the last 80 natives to Cuba. Within 200 years, almost the entire precolumbian population of Florida had died out. Creek Indians from the north quickly swept down from Georgia and the Carolinas to fill the void. These Indians became known as the Seminole. Their activity in Brevard County was intermittent and usually not permanent.
Throughout the 18th century, the great European powers Spain, Great Britain and France vied for power in Florida. Their interest in the peninsula was more strategic than for building any real settlements. In contrast to today, where living in Florida means comfort and the "good life" to many people, Florida in the 18th century was seen as a hostile place with dangerous fauna such as venomous snakes, alligators and panthers. Death by malaria was a possibility and death at the hands of angry Indians seemed even more likely. After being under Spanish, French, British, and then Spanish rule again, Florida finally became a United States territory.
In 1837, Fort Ann was established on the eastern shore of the Indian River on a narrow strip of land on Merritt Island. During the construction of the Hernández–Capron Trail, General Joseph Hernandez and his militiamen encamped near present-day Mims. These settlements were short lived and were abandoned shortly thereafter.
Statehood to 1900
In 1845, Florida became the 27th state of the Union.
During the 19th century, the state of Florida was constantly changing the names and borders of counties. St. Lucie County was split off from Mosquito County in 1844. St. Lucie County was renamed Brevard County in 1855 after Theodore Washington Brevard, who served as Florida Comptroller from 1854 to 1860. This "Brevard County" contained very little of present-day Brevard County. Most of present-day Brevard north of Melbourne was part of either Volusia or Orange counties. Brevard County in 1856 extended as far west as Polk County and as far south as coastal Broward County. Complicating the discussion of Brevard County in the 19th century is that the boundaries have shifted such that the southernmost parts of present-day Brevard, were originally the northernmost parts. The original county seat was located at Susannah, an early name for present day Fort Pierce. Later the southern part of Brevard split off to form a new county, St. Lucie County in 1905. Gradually, the borders of Brevard County were shifted northward while the county got "pinched" eastward. The portions of Brevard County in present-day Broward and Palm Beach counties were given to Dade County, western areas of the county were given to Polk and Osceola County, and parts of Volusia and Orange Counties were given to Brevard including the eventual county seat of Titusville. Later, the southern portion of the county was cut off to form St. Lucie County, which in turn spawned Martin and Indian River County.
The first permanent settlement in present-day Brevard was established near Cape Canaveral in 1848. After the establishment of a lighthouse, a few families moved in and a small, but stable settlement was born. Gradually, as the threat of Seminole Indian attacks became increasingly unlikely, people began to move into the area around the Indian River. In the 1850s a small community developed at Sand Point which eventually became the city of Titusville. Unlike other areas of Florida, the American Civil War had little effect on Brevard County, other than perhaps slow the movement of settlers to the area.
In 1864, the county seat was moved to Bassvile, an area presently in Osceola County on the southeast shore of Lake Tohopekaliga. In 1874, the county seat was moved to Eau Gallie. Then in 1875 the seat was moved to Lake View.
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. Unlike cities further inland in Florida, these cities did not have to rely as heavily on roads. The primary way of transversing the county was by water. In 1877 commercial steamboat transportation became a reality as the steamboat Pioneer was brought to the area.
The first real boom to the area occurred with the extension of Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railroad into the area. The railroad reached Titusville in 1886 and Melbourne in 1894. With the railroad came increased settlement and the first tourists.
20th century to present
The advent of the automobile age brought even more growth to Brevard County as resorts and hotels popped up all around the county. As the automobile became increasingly important as a means of transportation, roads connecting Brevard County to the rest of Florida and ultimately the rest of the nation were built.
The first major land boom began in the 1920s with the end of World War I. People flooded into the state of Florida as land prices soared, only to bust as the Great Depression temporarily stopped growth in Florida. Before the start of World War II, the largest industries in Brevard were commercial fishing, citrus, and tourism.
In 1940, the Naval Air Station Banana River (now Patrick Air Force Base) was built. This began a new era in the development of Brevard County. The federal government funded construction of what is now Florida State Road A1A paralleling the ocean and providing vehicle access to the NAS. They also funded the replacement of the three
In the late 50s, the Long Range Proving Ground was opened. This later became the Kennedy Space Center. This changed the entire complexion of the county; where Brevard had once been considered a "backwoods" area of Florida, it instantly became the launching pad into outer space. What had once been a primarily low-tech farmer/fisherman economy was transformed into a high-tech engineering and computer economy.
New residents in the 1960s found local retailing unappealing and drove to nearby Orlando to shop. Locals were concerned that the construction of malls would lead to the disintegration of the Cocoa, Melbourne and Titusville downtowns. This indeed happened, but the downtown areas were revived in the 21st century.
While the county was technically inhabitable, it was overrun by mosquitoes much of the year in wet areas, which included much of the county. Mosquitoes were controlled in 1950 by the advent of the now-banned insecticide, DDT. Much of the county became inhabitable. Many people moved in. When DDT became illegal, more environmentally-friendly insecticides and other mosquito control methods were used.
Ferries across the Indian River were replaced by wooden bridges in the early 20th century which accommodated both horses and automobiles. These bridges had gates to permit the passage of boats. These bridges, in turn, were replaced by high rise steel bridges, in the 1960s and beyond. These allowed passage of boats underneath.
In 1982, Windover Archaeological Site was discovered.
As a very long, but not very wide county, there had been a lot of complaints from people in the southern, more populous side of the county about being so distant from the county seat. A trip to conduct county business in Titusville was 50 miles (80 km) from the most populous city in the county, Palm Bay. There was talk of secession on the southern end of the county, and the county decided to build a new county administration complex at Viera near the geographical center of the county. This complex was started in 1989, and resulted in a counter-threat of secession from the Titusille end of the county. This proposal to form a new county, Playalinda County had some momentum in the early 90s. The county made a few concessions to the people in the northern part of the county, and agreed not to officially move the county seat. Viera; however, is for all intents and purposes the de facto seat of Brevard County.
The summer of 1998 produced some of the worst brush fires on record.70,000 acres (280 km2; 110 sq mi) were burned.
Prior to instituting controlled burns, the county forests and pastures burned for months during the dry season. From the 1940s to the 1970s, the state assumed control of burning that prevented uncontrolled fires. In 2006, the state burned a record 72,065 acres (291.64 km2; 112.602 sq mi) in the county.
In 2004, Brevard County ranked 13th out of 318 largest counties in the US for increase in the number of jobs. The county moved from 70 to 31 out of the top 200 metropolitan areas "Best Performing". This improvement was driven mainly by job growth. The 2004 hurricane recovery helped the area achieve high employment.
In 2004, Brevard experienced its best October and November tourism until then, despite widespread hurricane damage and loss of five beachside hotels. Four of these hotels were restored by 2006.
The Milken Institute ranked Brevard number one, out of 200 largest metropolitan areas, in overall job growth for 2005.
The National Association of Realtors reported that existing homes prices in Brevard rose 33% annually the third quarter of 2005, the sixth highest metropolitan area in the nation (out of 147). There was a slight decrease in existing home prices the last quarter of 2005.
In January 2005, CNN/Money ranked the homes in "Palm Bay", perhaps referring to all of the Space Coast, as "49% overvalued" and within 10% of the most overvalued homes in the United States.
In 2005, the Sunrise Bank of Cocoa Beach became the first bank in the state to have a mobile branch.
In early 2005, Forbes ranked the area 27th in job growth out of 150 metropolitan areas in the country. The county ranked 18th in the nation for mid-sized areas in 2006.
Manpower Employment Outlook Survey said the hiring outlook in Brevard for the last quarter of 2005 was the 19th-best in the nation among the 470 communities participating in the survey.
Nearly 44,943 new houses were built from 2000 through 2009. This was enough to house 112,000 people. However, only 60,000 people moved into the county, leaving the remaining homes vacant and helping to precipitate bursting of the United States housing bubble. In 2000, there were 198,195 households in the county and 222,072 units for an occupancy rate of 89.1%. Between 2000 and 2009, more than twice as many houses were built than were needed. Nearly 47,000 houses were built, but the number of households increased by 22,000, dropping the occupancy rate to 81.9%.
In 2005, Inc. magazine voted the Space Coast as the best place to do business in Florida and sixth in the country.
The county's median home price reached a high in August 2005 at $248,700. New home permits fell in 2007 to 1,894, the lowest since 1982. Sales of existing homes fell 19% in 2007 from the prior year to 373 monthly. The median drop in home prices was 50% from 2005 to 2008, from $248,700 to $125,200. However, when choices for smaller homes was eliminated, prices on individual homes fell 25%; down 33% for individual condos. In 2000, the median sale price of homes in Brevard was $100,000. With the collapse of the housing bubble, homes now are often about the same price, with median homes in 2009 selling for $89,400.
In a separate study, a consulting firm determined that house prices in the county were 46.1% overvalued in 2005 at $212,000 average. The same firm determined that prices were 19.3% undervalued in 2008 at $129,400. The average price in December 2009, fell to a new recent low of $104,100. In January 2010, sales dropped to 434 monthly, also a recent low.
The housing vacancy rate hit a high of 18.8% in 2007. The number of households renting hit a low of 48,528 in 2005. Median monthly rent hit a high of $907 in 2008. In 2009, 73% of Brevard households owned the house they lived in. The national rate was 65.9%.
In 2008, a number of mortgage insurers blackmarked Brevard, along with a quarter of the total nations zip codes. This was intended to thwart potential buyers who wish to pay less than 20% down on a home.
In 2009 an economist said that the Brevard housing market would not recover until at least 2011. A later analysis in 2009 seemed to agree, saying that the market would fall 41.4% to bottom out by the end of 2010.
Annual foreclosures rose from a low of 1,144 in 2005 to 9,228 in 2008. From 2007 to March 2010, there were 25,600 foreclosure filings. In 2010, it was found that 1/3 or more of real estate sales were due to foreclosures.
Effects of hurricanes
Hurricane Matthew, which passed east of Brevard in 2016, caused about $38 million in damage.
In 2017, nearly all county residents were left without power as the result of the effect of Hurricane Irma, which struck the county with tropical storm force on September 10–11, 2017. This was largely rectified by September 19. Irma resulted in $157 million in damage. Most residents were left without potable water after the storm passed, when electric power failed to maintain the necessary 20 pounds per square inch (140 kPa) pressure to keep out potential contaminants, plus water main breaks, and stress on the system from the extra water from subsequent heavy rainfall.
Demographics
In 1966, the population was 200,700. There were 73,624 licensed drivers, 16,612 registered Republicans, 49,261 registered Democrats, 1,545 independents. There were 4,291 births, 1,018 deaths, 94,500 in the civilian labor force, and 1,800 unemployed.
In 2016, the population was 561,716. There were 470,993 licensed drivers, 164,663 registered Republicans, 127,430 registered Democrats, 101,721 independents. There were 5,299 births, 6,693 deaths, 255,465 in the civilian labor force, and 12,981 unemployed.
Economy
In 1966, the county produced 2,880,000 boxes of oranges; in 2016, 382,000 boxes.
Orange production dropped 87% from the 2008–9 season to the 2016–7 season. The decline was mostly due to canker, citrus greening disease, and hurricane damage. Unless a cure can be found for greening, the outlook is dim for improved production.
