Cape Canaveral, Florida - History

History

Further information: Brevard County#History

After the establishment of a lighthouse in 1848, a few families moved into the area and a small, but stable settlement was born. As the threat of Seminole Indian attacks became increasingly unlikely, other settlers began to move into the area around the Indian River. In 1890 a group of Harvard Alumni students established a hunters gun club called the Canaveral Harvard Club with a holding of over 18,000 acres (7,300 ha). Their game hunts helped clear the wilderness for other settlers to move in.

In the early 1920s, a group of Orlando journalists invested more than $150,000 in the beach acreage that now encompasses the area of presidentially-named streets in Cape Canaveral. They called their development Journalista (now Avon-by-the-Sea) in honor of their trade. This seasonal retreat for inland residents was anticipated to become as popular a resort area as Cocoa Beach to the south, with the construction of a wooden bridge connecting Merritt Island to the area.

At that time, fishermen, retirees, and descendants of Captain Mills Burnham—the original official keeper of the Cape Canaveral Light—resided in the northern part of the present city.

Due to the hardships caused by the Great Depression, many investors defaulted on their holdings. Much of this land was recovered by newspaper owner R.B. Brossier and his son, Dickson, after they sold their Orlando home and used the remaining $4,500 to purchase much of the Avon area. It was their dream that a port would be developed and a direct route to Orlando would be constructed.

By 1958 the workforce and the economy had grown substantially with the space program. At that time, an adjacent city could annex an unincorporated area without a vote of the residents, so property owners were discussing the feasibility of forming a new city to prevent possible annexation by the city of Cocoa Beach. Landowners were asked for their opinion on this matter, and, due to substantial city debt and land taxes, most residents preferred not to become part of Cocoa Beach. They decided to create a city of their own.

The City of Cape Canaveral started in 1961 when a committee was formed to incorporate. when the city charter under bill 167 was approved by the Florida State Legislature in Tallahassee.

In 1967, the annual Sun and Space Festival was started, with flyovers and a parade that included a route to the newly opened Museum of Sunken Treasure.

An annual celebration was started on October 9, 1990, The Patriot's Day Parade in honor of the last naval battle of the American Revolution that was fought off the Cape Canaveral coast in 1783.