Cocoa Beach

Cocoa Beach, Florida: This coastal town located along Florida’s Atlantic coast is home to one of the Space Coast most popular beaches. Home to some of the best surfing waves in Florida, Cocoa Beach is known as the Jewel of the Space Coast.

The areas first residents were a family of free slaves from the Civil War. The land was then purchased by a group of investors from Cocoa and eventually founded into the Town of Cocoa Beach in 1925 which was later incorporated into a city by 1957.

The population continued to grow and by the 60’s had increased over 1000%. Much of the growth had been contributed to the space program and nearby Kennedy Space Center. But just as quickly as the population grew with the program, it fell with the program. The city suffered a 14.3% unemployment rate in 1975 mainly due to the completion of the Apollo project and the associated layoffs. But the space program recovered with the introduction of the space shuttle and the city recovered. Today almost 12,000 people live within the fifteen square miles of the city.

Much of the tourism to Cocoa Beach can be contributed to its beaches and surfing waves. The city is home to the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame and the Ron Jon Surf Shop entertains over 2 million visitors a year. The annual Easter Surfing Festival began in 1964 which draws over 100,000 spectators annually.

Other attractions within the city include the Cocoa Beach Pier, several beachfront parks, the Cocoa Beach Golf Course and the Thousand Islands Conservation Area. The area also has its place in Hollywood, serving as home to “ I Dream of Jeannie”. Several celebrities call the city home including professional wrestlers Rick Martel and George “the animal” Steele, professional surfer Kelly Slater and USA Today’s founder Allen Neuharth.

As history has shown, the city will once again see a change in demographics following the completion of the space shuttle program in 2010. NASA plans to continue operations with the Constellation Project, but lack of funding from the Obama administration has the project in jeopardy. Only time will tell how the current economic status and the projected changes with the space program will effect the city of Cocoa Beach.