Dates in Cocoa History

Dates sorted by Month, Day, Year

January 1, 1940 – Cocoa Post Office’s city delivery service was established.

January 8, 1925 – Fire Station opened on King St.

January 8, 1952 – First issue of semi-weekly Cocoa Tribune.

January 9, 1949 – Central Church of Christ moved and changed name to Poinsett Dr. Church of Christ

January 12, 1959 – First service of the Unitarian Fellowship of Cocoa held.

January 15, 1942 – First WW 2 blackout was implemented.

January 17, 1947 – Community Woman’s Club presented Chief Ho-To-Pi, Indian tenor, in Concert.

January 18, 1959 – Unitarian Fellowship of Cocoa organized with 19 members.

January 22, 1962 – Fire Station opened on South Fiske Blvd.

January 26, 1978 – The Taylor Building of the Brevard Museum, Cocoa, was dedicated.

January 30, 1946 – A Homecoming Barbecue was held at Central Park in Cocoa for veterans.

February 1, 1893 – First Florida East Coast Railway trains arrived in Cocoa.

February 4, 1918 – Victor Theatre opened in Cocoa Admission ice of 10-25 cents included war tax.

February 16, 1957 – Central Brevard National Bank opened.

February 21, 1942 – The Emma Cecilia Thursby Memorial Fellowship Hall of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church was dedicated.

February 27, 1947 – Lake Poinsett was selected as the water supply source for Cocoa.

March 1, 1968 – Vice President Hubert Humphrey came to Brevard to dedicate the 520 bridge over the Indian River.

March 3, 1845 – Florida became the 27th state.

March 4, 1948 – Campbell’s Drug Store located on the corner of Brevard Ave. and Harrison St., had it’s formal opening.

March 5, 1968 – The Faber Home, located on North Indian River Drive, and was built around 1895, was demolished.

March 6, 1919  – M.B. Provost, president of the Florida east Coast Baseball League, (semi-pro) announced plans for summer baseball in Provost Park.

March 8, 1968  – Houston Astros held first spring training at the Cocoa Astro Stadium.

March 14, 1926 – Bishop John Durham Wing officiated the first service held in the new church building of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.

March 19, 1943 – An observation tower for aircraft warning was erected at Virginia Park.

March 20, 1923 – Brevard Hotel formally opened to the public.

March 22, 1894 – Wylie-Baxley Funeral Home was established.

March 22, 1917 – The Cocoa tribune was first published.

March 27, 1917 – A runaway FEC rail car destroyed the corner of the Indian Packing building.

April 8, 1917 – Cocoa Auto and Machine Company offered a Chevrolet convertible for $595, delivered.

April 11, 1946 – 1,323 copies of the phone directory were delivered in Cocoa.

May 1, 1891 – May Day Picnic held at Oleander Park

May 3, 1917 – A sale at Rubin Brothers Department Store offered “Woman’s glove fitting corsets guaranteed not to rust; 95 cents to $2.59”

May 4, 1958 – Cocoa Presbyterian Church organized with 71 members

May 5, 1961 – First American in Space, Alan Shepard, made his sub-orbital flight.

May 8, 1513 – Ponce de Leon and his crew anchored their ship just south of Cape Canaveral.

May 11,1949 – President Truman signed a law creating a long range proving ground at Cape Canaveral.

May 14, 1942 – Gas rationing cards were issued.

May 22, 1917 – Four students graduated from Cocoa Public School

May 31, 1899 – Ordinance passed legalizing the incorporation of Cocoa.

June 1, 1944 – 1,224,863 crates of citrus were shipped in 2,606 rail cars from Cocoa

June 2, 1878 – First meeting of a congregation, which was to become St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, was held at the home of A.L. Hatch

June 3, 1943 – Black out tests and air raid drills were held by Civil Defense

June 4, 1946 – Ti-Co Airport was returned to local control by the U.S. Navy

June 5, 1941 – The 520 Causeway was dedicated.

June 7, 1922 – Community Woman’s Club chartered

June 12, 1910 First organizational meeting and services of First Baptist Church held

June 13, 1963 Present church building of Unitarian Fellowship of Cocoa dedicated

June 17, 1963 Messiah Lutheran Church moved to its present location

June 20, 1918 Ralph Rubin, a Cocoa service man, caught a German spy on the train on the way home on leave

June 29, 1939 It was announced that beginning in September, students would have nine months of school instead of eight

July 1, 1959 Cocoa Tribune began publishing five days a week.

July 12, 1964 First service of First Church of Christ Scientist conducted at 25 N. Indian River Dr.

July, 16, 1963 S.S. “Brick” Jones, Captain of the Cocoa Fire Department, retired after 43 years of service.

July 17, 1918 Thomas Edison’s yacht, Rampart, stopped in Cocoa for repairs. The Rampart was used to discover a means to detect U-boats.

July 20,1969 Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon.

July26, 1917 First bridge across Indian River connecting Cocoa with Merritt Island opened to traffic.

July 27, 1944 Cocoa bought it’s first closed garbage truck. announced: pedestrian - .05, horse and rider - .15, car and driver - .20

July 29, 1943 Mosquito screens were installed at Cocoa’s Main Railway Station.

August 1, 1946 Plans for the barge canal were proposed.

August 4, 1924 Aladdin Theater opened.

August 15, 1918 George Gingras launched a houseboat that was 56 feet long and was powered by a 60 hp engine.

August 25, 1968 First service held in present sanctuary of First United Methodist Church.

August 26, 1948 Porcher House was renamed Chip-Ahoy.

August 27, 1564 The first verified sighting by the Spanish off Cape Canaveral.

August 29, 1890 The Ladies Sewing Society of Cocoa published pamphlet about the history of the Indian River.

September 2, 1890 Fire destroyed four business buildings and one residence on Delannoy Ave. near King St.

September 3, 1885 SF Travis Company established.

September 4, 1920 A ten-foot shark was caught in the Indian River.

September 11, 1884 Cocoa Post Office was established.

September 12, 1920 First congregation of Seventh Day Adventist Church organized.

September 13, 1928  The new Chevrolet Safety School Bus was delivered. It was built so that it was “practically impossible for a child to fall out.”

September 14, 1925 - Cocoa High School officially opens in new four-story building

September 17, 1967 - Present church building of Central Church of Christ completed.

September 20, 1917 OK Key leased its livery building for a Ford Agency. It was later the Aladdin and is now the Cocoa Playhouse.

October 1, 1895 - Town of Coca incorporated.

October 3, 1903 - Cocoa House opened.

October 5, 1900 - Ordinance passed outlining duties of the town clerk, Marshall, and collector.

October 11, 1963 - Emory Bennett Causeway dedicated; Governor Farris Bryant, speaker.

October 15, 1942 - The State Theatre premiered Gone With the Wind. The film played at Cocoa three times a day, beginning at 11am.

October 17, 1918 - Due to Spanish influenza, all public gatherings were forbidden, including church, Sunday school, and public school.

October 19, 1919 - The City of Cocoa Baseball team were State Champs.

October 22, 1945 - Shrimp sold for 4 cents a pound.

October 23, 1919 - A train filled with Chinese passed through Cocoa en route to Cuba. They were to work in sugar cane fields.

October 25, 1918 - Electric lights first illuminated the passenger station in Cocoa.

October 31, 1916 - Porcher House built.

October 31, 1961 - Winn Dixie store at 1106 Clearlake Road opened.

November 1, 1934 New City Hall occupied.

November 2, 1917 Postal rates increased to 3 cents except for local letters and letters to certain countries.

November 6, 1919 Famous Sea Plane NC-4 passed over Cocoa. Its wing spread was 126 ft and was 68 ft long.

November 14, 1918 City Council passed a resolution putting Cocoa in the Eastern Time Zone.

November 15, 1885 First service of First United Methodist Church held at City Point.

November 17, 1878 St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Founded.

November 25, 1956 St Marks’s Episcopal Day School opened.

November 27, 1961 Cocoa House demolished.

December 1, 1957 Nineteen people met at Old City Hall to organize and hold the first services of Cocoa Presbyterian Church.

December 3, 1917 Mr. A.R. Trafford announced the expansion of his business to include real estate.

December 4, 1961 Mrs. Louise Gibbon, t he first woman elected to Cocoa City Council lead the ticket with 262 votes.

December 5, 1946 A mob of 3,000 shopped in Cocoa for Christmas.

December 11, 1919 A flying machine at Cocoa was taking up passengers at $15.00 each.

December 20, 1962 A & P Store, The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, opened on the corner of Pineda and Dixon.

 

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The above was submitted in text, not a computer program, and was hand typed. Per a request we edited each line to resort by chronological order... enjoy: 

Dates sorted by Year, Month, Day

1513, May 8  – Ponce de Leon and his crew anchored their ship just south of Cape Canaveral.

1564, August 27  – The first verified sighting by the Spanish off Cape Canaveral.

1845, March 3  – Florida became the 27th state.

1878, June 2 – First meeting of a congregation, which was to become St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, was held at the home of A.L. Hatch

1878, November 17  – St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Founded.

1884, September 11  – Cocoa Post Office was established.

1885, September 3  – SF Travis Company established.

1885, November 15 – First service of First United Methodist Church held at City Point.

1890, August 29  – The Ladies Sewing Society of Cocoa published pamphlet about the history of the Indian River.

1890, September 2  – Fire destroyed four business buildings and one residence on Delannoy Ave. near King St.

1891, May 1  – May Day Picnic held at Oleander Park

1893, February 1  – First Florida East Coast Railway trains arrived in Cocoa.

1894, March 22  – Wylie-Baxley Funeral Home was established.

1895, October  – Town of Coca incorporated.

1899, May 31  – Ordinance passed legalizing the incorporation of Cocoa.$595, delivered.

1900, October 5 – Ordinance passed outlining duties of the town clerk, Marshall, and collector.

1903, October 3  – Cocoa House opened.

1910, June 12  – First organizational meeting and services of First Baptist Church held

1916, October 31 – Porcher House built.

1917, March 22  – The Cocoa tribune was first published.

1917, March 27  – A runaway FEC rail car destroyed the corner of the Indian Packing building.

1917, April 8  – Cocoa Auto and Machine Company offered a Chevrolet convertible for 1917, May 22  – Four students graduated from Cocoa Public School

1917, May 3  – A sale at Rubin Brothers Department Store offered “Woman’s glove fitting corsets guaranteed not to rust; 95 cents to $2.59”

1917, July 26  – First bridge across Indian River connecting Cocoa with Merritt Island opened to traffic.

1917, September 20  – OK Key leased its livery building for a Ford Agency. It was later the Aladdin and is now the Cocoa Playhouse.

1917, November 2  – Postal rates increased to 3 cents except for local letters and letters to certain countries.

1917, December 3  – Mr. A.R. Trafford announced the expansion of his business to include real estate.

1918, February 4  – Victor Theatre opened in Cocoa Admission ice of 10-25 cents included war tax.

1918, June 20  –  Ralph Rubin, a Cocoa service man, caught a German spy on the train on the way home on leave

1918, July 17  – Thomas Edison’s yacht, Rampart, stopped in Cocoa for repairs. The Rampart was used to discover a means to detect U-boats.

1918, August 15  – George Gingras launched a houseboat that was 56 feet long and was powered by a 60 hp engine.

1918, October 17 – Due to Spanish influenza, all public gatherings were forbidden, including church, Sunday school, and public school.

1918, October 25  – Electric lights first illuminated the passenger station in Cocoa.

1918, November 14  – City Council passed a resolution putting Cocoa in the Eastern Time Zone.

1919, March 6  – M.B. Provost, president of the Florida east Coast Baseball League, (semi-pro) announced plans for summer baseball in Provost Park.

1919, October 19 – The City of Cocoa Baseball team were State Champs.

1919, October 23  – A train filled with Chinese passed through Cocoa en route to Cuba. They were to work in sugar cane fields.

1919, November 6  – Famous Sea Plane NC-4 passed over Cocoa. Its wing spread was 126 ft and was 68 ft long.

1919, December 11 – A flying machine at Cocoa was taking up passengers at $15.00 each.

1920, September 4  – A ten-foot shark was caught in the Indian River.

1920, September 12  – First congregation of Seventh Day Adventist Church organized.

1922, June 7  – Community Woman’s Club chartered

1923, March 20  – Brevard Hotel formally opened to the public.

1924, August 4  – Aladdin Theater opened.

1925, January 8  – Fire Station opened on King St.

1925. September 14  – Cocoa High School officially opens in new four-story building

1926, March 14  – Bishop John Durham Wing officiated the first service held in the new church building of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.

1928, September 13  –  The new Chevrolet Safety School Bus was delivered. It was built so that it was “practically impossible for a child to fall out.”

1934, November 1  – New City Hall occupied.

1939, June 29  – It was announced that beginning in September, students would have nine months of school instead of eight

1940, January 1  – Cocoa Post Office’s city delivery service was established.

1941, June 5  – The 520 Causeway was dedicated.

1942, January 15 – First WW 2 blackout was implemented.

1942, February 21   – The Emma Cecilia Thursby Memorial Fellowship Hall of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church was dedicated.

1942, May 14  – Gas rationing cards were issued.

1942, October 15 – The State Theatre premiered Gone With the Wind. The film played at Cocoa three times a day, beginning at 11am.

1943, March 19  – An observation tower for aircraft warning was erected at Virginia Park.

1943, June 3  – Black out tests and air raid drills were held by Civil Defense

1943, July 29  – Mosquito screens were installed at Cocoa’s Main Railway Station.

1944, June 1  – 1,224,863 crates of citrus were shipped in 2,606 rail cars from Cocoa

1944, July 27  – Cocoa bought it’s first closed garbage truck. announced: pedestrian - .05, horse and rider - .15, car and driver - .20

1946, January 30  – A Homecoming Barbecue was held at Central Park in Cocoa for 1946, April 11  – 1,323 copies of the phone directory were delivered in Cocoa for veterans.

1946, June 4  – Ti-Co Airport was returned to local control by the U.S. Navy

1945, October 22 – Shrimp sold for 4 cents a pound.

1946, August 1  – Plans for the barge canal were proposed.

1946, December 5 – A mob of 3,000 shopped in Cocoa for Christmas.

1947, January 17  – Community Woman’s Club presented Chief Ho-To-Pi, Indian tenor, 1947, in Concert

1947, February 27  – Lake Poinsett was selected as the water supply source for Cocoa.

1948, March 4  – Campbell’s Drug Store located on the corner of Brevard Ave. and Harrison St., had it’s formal opening.

1948, August 26 – Porcher House was renamed Chip-Ahoy.

1949, January 9  – Central Church of Christ moved and changed name to Poinsett Dr. Church of Christ

1949, May 11  – President Truman signed a law creating a long range proving ground at Cape Canaveral.

1952, January 8  – First issue of semi-weekly Cocoa Tribune.

1956, November 25  – St Marks’s Episcopal Day School opened.

1957, February 16  – Central Brevard National Bank opened.

1957, December 1  – Nineteen people met at Old City Hall to organize and hold the first services of Cocoa Presbyterian Church.

1958, May 4  – Cocoa Presbyterian Church organized with 71 members

1959, January 12  – First service of the Unitarian Fellowship of Cocoa held.

1959, January 18 – Unitarian Fellowship of Cocoa organized with 19 members.

1959, July 1 – Cocoa Tribune began publishing five days a week.

1961, May 5  – First American in Space, Alan Shepard, made his sub-orbital flight.

1961, October 31  – Winn Dixie store at 1106 Clearlake Road opened.

1961, November 27  – Cocoa House demolished.

1961, December 4 – Mrs. Louise Gibbon, t he first woman elected to Cocoa City Council lead the ticket with 262 votes.

1962, January 22 – Fire Station opened on South Fiske Blvd.

1962, December 20  – A & P Store, The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, opened on the corner of Pineda and Dixon.

1963, June 13  – Present church building of Unitarian Fellowship of Cocoa dedicated

1963, June 17  – Messiah Lutheran Church moved to its present location

1963, July, 16  – S.S. “Brick” Jones, Captain of the Cocoa Fire Department, retired after 43 years of service.

1963, October 11 – Emory Bennett Causeway dedicated; Governor Farris Bryant, speaker.

1964, July 12  – First service of First Church of Christ Scientist conducted at 25 N. Indian River Dr.

1967, September 17  – Present church building of Central Church of Christ completed.

1968, March 1  – Vice President Hubert Humphrey came to Brevard to dedicate the 520 bridge over the Indian River.

1968, March 5  – The Faber Home, located on North Indian River Drive, and was built around 1895, was demolished.

1968, March 8  – Houston Astros held first spring training at the Cocoa Astro Stadium.

1968, August 25  – First service held in present sanctuary of First United Methodist Church.

1969, July 20  – Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon.

1978, January 26 – The Taylor Building of the Brevard Museum, Cocoa, was dedicated.