Lucie and spread southward to Dade County. Several other boundary changes occurred until when Brevard attained the present-day boundaries. Douglas was also one of the few planters to cultivate oranges and sold his first orange crop in While still living in Tomoka, he began experimenting with various techniques of citrus cultivation by planting wild sour-orange trees that had likely originated with the Spanish and acclimated to the Florida soil and climate.
He grafted cuttings from sweet orange trees — purportedly from groves planted by the Turnbull colonists at New Smyrna — to sour-orange root stock.
Dummitt increased the size of his grove over the years and by was producing an estimated 60, oranges a year. He contributed to the development of the Indian River citrus region by selling budwood to other growers to start new groves in the region. Dummitt died at his orange grove in , after having made many significant contributions to the political and economic development of the Indian River region.
This was one of the first major man-made improvements to the inland waterway system that had served Florida travelers since pre-historic times. At that time, the haul over measured approximately one-third of a mile long, feet wide, 3 feet deep, and was primarily used by shallow draft vessels. Further improvements to the canal began in and the work was completed by the U. Today, Haulover Canal is a part of the Intercoastal Waterway and is used by thousands of vessels annually to travel between the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River on their trek up and down the east coast.
It was positioned so that goods could be transported from the lagoon to the river. Later in , the original Haulover canal was dug by slaves. Fort Ann is no longer standing. It was built in by the Duke of Castilluccia. It had three stories and 20 rooms. It sat unoccupied for several years, and in it was burnt down. Dragon Point, a colorful piece of Merritt Island history, once was the nesting spot for Annie the Dragon.
Annie, a ton dragon statue built in the s, guarded the southern tip of Merritt Island where the Indian and Banana rivers meet. That was, until her demise in Even dragons are no match for hurricane-force winds. The new owners have since demolished the mansion and are planning to build a new home and a new dragon Annie's offspring "Rojak" the dragon to guard the point once again.
Rojak is a foot-long, double-headed dragon. More: Dragon Point demolition project begins on Merritt Island. We saved this one for last because we knew Merritt Islanders would stop reading as soon as they saw this.
It's a hard pill to swallow for many proud islanders, but Merritt Island isn't actually an island, it's a peninsula. Hamilton at the wildlife refuge, also confirmed this. Sea Ray operated a factory on Merritt Island from to At one time it employed people.
Merritt Island is a peninsula. Merritt Island is still considered a natural island. To the west, the island is connected by causeways to mainland Brevard County near Titusville and Cocoa on its northern end, and in Melbourne on its southern end. To the north, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge , along with a narrow barrier island that make up Canaveral National Seashore , offer an unpopulated protected buffer area for rocket launches at Kennedy Space Center.
Migratory birds join the more resident wildlife, including alligators , manatees , dolphins , sea turtles , bald eagles , ospreys , bobcats , and the elusive Florida panther. A number of bald eagle nests are monitored atop power line poles along SR 3 within Kennedy Space Center.
There are about 12, feral pigs in North Merritt Island. Licensed trappers catch about 2, annually, which keeps the population even. As of the census of , there were 36, people, 14, households, and 10, families residing in the CDP. The population density was 2, Local plants included two in Frontenac between Titusville and Cocoa. On May 25, , President John F. Kennedy made a speech to Congress in which he proposed that the United States commit to landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.
NASA eventually purchased more than 80, acres. They wanted plenty of land around the operation for security and safety reasons. Residents living in the land purchase area had no choice. They had to sell their land and move off the property. Many who had owned beach houses for years had to sell them and move on. Some of the citrus people were allowed to continue to work their groves, but most of them moved elsewhere on Merritt Island or to the mainland or beaches.
Many of the old towns were abandoned when the land was purchased. Some of them are shown on the map above. The federal government's decision to land a man on the moon created huge problems for Merritt Island and the Brevard County government. The population of Brevard County in was ,, spread primarily in areas around Titusville, Cocoa, and Melbourne. By the population had more than doubled to , During this decade, it was the fastest growing county in the United States.
Much of this growth was on Merritt Island. There were not nearly enough homes and apartments in the area to handle the huge influx of aerospace workers. There were not enough schools, water supplies, wastewater treatement facilities, or roads. Local government was left pretty much on its own to handle the problems. Zoning laws and building codes were inadequate at first to handle the coming boom.
Economics kicked in and the huge demand attracted major developers who began to buy up land and build subdivisions. Most of the first developments were in Central Merritt Island. Hampton Homes, a development north of State Road , is an early example. Other early developments in Central Merritt Island created canal front lots on the west side of Sykes Creek. The east side of Sykes Creek is a large wetland area that has become a bird preserve and is known as Ulumay Wildlife Sanctuary.
More canal front subdivisions were developed east of this wetland. Merritt Island High School was founded in and soon became an academic and sports power in the state. Elementary schools were built, roads were improved and new ones were built. The water system from Cocoa was increased in size to handle the growth. Wastewater treatment plants were typically built by a developer to service his subdivision.
A large orange grove was leveled and swamp land filled to create Merritt Square Mall , which opened in with three anchor stores: J. Penney, Ivey's, and Jordan Marsh.
Apollo 11 landed on the moon on July 20, There were a total of six manned moon landings between and But there was a cost to Merritt Island that would soon have to be paid. In the year after the moon landing, employment at Kennedy Space Center dropped from 23, to 16, Former aerospace engineers and technicians were lucky to find jobs delivering pizza or working in convenience stores. Many of them left the area and many of them also changed careers.
They couldn't pay their bills, including house payments. Thousands of almost new homes went into foreclosure. Some houses were sold on the courthouse steps for almost nothing. Retirees began to flock into the area to snap up the bargains. A walk through the Merritt Square Mall was depressing with most of the shops having closed for lack of customers.
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