Old Cocoa Florida Since 1882
The older sister of the Space Coast.
Cocoa was a citrus-shipping town before NASA arrived. Founded in 1882, incorporated in 1895, and anchored by the Porcher House, S.F. Travis Hardware and a riverfront downtown that is still standing. This is the mainland story.
From the archive
Recent pieces on Cocoa's mainland history.
Brevard Mosquito Control District: History and What It Is
The Brevard Mosquito Control District dates to a 1937 act of the Florida Legislature. How it moved from hand-dug ditches to DDT to walled marsh impoundments.
Cocoa in the Florida land boom, 1917 to 1930
Cocoa grew from about 550 people in 1912 to about 1,800 by 1925, built its brick downtown and the Aladdin Theater, and kept growing through the 1926 bust on citrus and tourism. What the National Register records and the census show.
The Aladdin Theater, 1924: Cocoa's Boom-era showplace
The Aladdin Theater opened on Brevard Avenue on August 18, 1924, an $80,000 Italian Renaissance Revival theater with 800 seats in a town of about 2,000. It was Cocoa's only theater until 1936, became the Cocoa Village Playhouse, and was listed on the National Register in 1991.
Brevard Junior College, founded 1960 in Cocoa: how it became Eastern Florida State
Brevard Junior College opened in 1960 in the old Cocoa High School building. It merged in 1963 with Carver Junior College, which served Brevard's Black students, moved to its campus by Clear Lake in Cocoa, became Brevard Community College in 1970 and Eastern Florida State College in 2013.
Cocoa and the Brevard County Seat: Why the Courthouse Is in Titusville
The Brevard County seat has been in Titusville since an 1879 vote in which the choices were Titusville, Eau Gallie and Rockledge. Cocoa outgrew Titusville by 1920, but the seat never moved.
Cocoa's Black neighborhoods, 1880s to 1948: Florida Avenue, Lapham's Addition, College Park
In the 1880s Black families bought lots south of Cocoa's business district along what is now Florida Avenue. The railroad split that neighborhood in the early 1890s, and in 1912, 1922 and the mid-1920s Arthur and Viva Lapham platted the subdivisions west of downtown where Black Cocoa grew up around its school.
Cocoa's citrus trade: growers, packing houses and the Florida Citrus Exchange
Citrus paid for much of early Cocoa. Edward Porcher, one of the largest Indian River growers, ran a packinghouse behind his house on the river and patented machines for handling fruit; Cocoa and Rockledge headquartered the Florida Citrus Exchange; and the packing houses employed the men of Cocoa's Black neighborhoods.
How Cocoa Was Founded, Named and Incorporated (1882 to 1895)
Fishermen founded Cocoa in 1882 as Indian River City. The post office balked at the long name, a town meeting picked Cocoa in 1884, and the town was incorporated in 1895.
Common questions about Cocoa history
- How did Cocoa, Florida get its name?
According to the Florida Department of State, the town was founded by fishermen in 1882 as Indian River City, but the new post office said the name was too long for a postmark. At a town meeting in 1884, Captain R.C. May suggested "Cocoa," which the state connects to the area's association with the cocoa plant. Other explanations, including the coco plum and a box of baking cocoa, have circulated, and none is settled.
- When was Cocoa settled and incorporated?
Fishermen founded Cocoa in 1882 under the name Indian River City, according to the Florida Department of State. The post office found the name too long for a postmark, and at an 1884 town meeting Captain R.C. May suggested Cocoa. The town was incorporated in 1895.
- What is the Porcher House and who built it?
The Porcher House at 434 Delannoy Avenue is a coquina-faced classical revival house built in 1916 for Edward Postell Porcher, one of the largest Indian River citrus growers, and his wife Byrnina, who moved in on October 31, 1916. Its builder is unknown. Playing-card shapes are set into the coquina around the entry. The City of Cocoa bought it in 1945 and used it as city hall, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
- What is the oldest business in Cocoa?
The S.F. Travis Company, founded in 1885, which the state's historical marker calls the oldest continuously operating business in Cocoa. Its store, built in 1891 after a fire in 1890, was bought by Colonel S.F. Travis in 1902; the marker calls it the oldest brick building in the city. The business has been family owned for more than five generations.
Free · No tracking · Unsubscribe anytime
Get the next article.
New articles when we publish.