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IMAGES
From
Nostalgiaville |
NOTE: A Click of your Mouse on most of the pictures will enlarge them for better viewing
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MELBOURNE, FLORIDA |
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| Destination... Melbourne, Florida... a nice place to be in January. Your chief explorer accompanied by a friend, Carl Bond, left from an excursion of Disney World in Orlando with a primary purpose to explore bicycle paths in Melbourne. On a previous trip to the area, I had noted no large grandiose bicycle trails, but did notice many oversize sidewalks along primary roads that served credibly as bike paths. Our mission this January was to map these paths and learn more about the great city of Melbourne. |
| HISTORY OF MELBOURNE |
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FLORIDA EAST COAST RAILROAD Henry M Flagler, Florida East Coast Railroad owner, was influenced to extend his railroad south from Rockledge by a Melbourne resident, E P Branch. The railroad tracks were built into Eau Gallie about 1892. Considerable delay was experienced in building the railroad bridge over the Eau Gallie River. |
| The tracks reached Melbourne June,
1893, and the first train reached Melbourne July 3, 1893 (a
Monday), the same day that the Melbourne State Bank opened its doors. The
day before, the first service had been held in the New Congregational Church
of Melbourne.
Until Flagler could complete his rail line into Miami and later Key West, the F E G R R connected in Melbourne to steamboats which carried passengers and freight down the Indian River. |
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FLORIDA EAST COAST RAILROAD |
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FIRST POST OFFICE SITE Here at what was once known as Hatterman's Point, in the early years, John Corathwaite Hector settled and had a store built, completed in 1880 by carpenter U D Henderson of Eau Gallie. |
| Hector was described as "tall,
heavy-set, with white hair and a great square beard. He was strong as a
bull." Most of the time he wore a ridiculous bowler on his head. This was
influenced undoubtedly, by his British origin.
In 1870, when Hector first appeared in the area, he was about 43 years old. He migrated here from Melbourne, Australia, where it was reported he had deserted a common-law wife and five children. Hector is credited with organizing the first community band in Melbourne, and became Melbourne first postmaster. |
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FIRST POST OFFICE SITE |
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EARLY POST OFFICE SITE IN MELBOURNE The first 14 years of postal service in Melbourne saw the mail arriving twice weekly by sailboat from Titusville. A black man by the name of Peter Wright brought the mail in a boat named the "Nellie". The first post office was in John Cornthwaite Hector's store at Hatterman's Point (the end of Front Street). Hector was appointed postmaster on June 17, 1880. |
| About 1897, when Richard W Goode
became postmaster the post office was relocated to this building. Goode was
Melbourne's seventh postmaster. he also operated a real estate office in
this building.
On a visit to his native Chicago in 1912, Goode was kille3d by an elevated railroad train. Edward P Branch succeeded him as postmaster. |
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EARLY POST OFFICE SITE IN MELBOURNE |
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CRANE CREEK PROMENADE AREA Melbourne's founding fathers were three black men, Peter Wright, William Allen and Wright Brothers. They came to the Crane Creek area a few years after the end of the Civil War. Brothers and Allen homesteaded land on the south side of Crane Creek, while Peter Wright bought land on both sides of the Creek, building his home on the bluff at the top of the Trysting Steps. Brothers and Allen made their living through agriculture, mostly citrus growing. Wright also went into agriculture, but he was also an early mail carrier, transporting the mail in his small sail boat from Titusville to St Lucil. |
| The fish house on the south side of
Crane Creek was probably built in 1919 by John Brechwald and has been
operated as a fish house (wholesale and retail) since that time.
According to Jessie Goode, early Melbourne settler, Crane Creek was an area where "White Sportsmen and Seminole Indians came to hunt blue herons, docks, marsh hens, bear, deer, wild turkeys and quail. The headwaters of Crane Creek (campus of Florida Tech) was an area settled by panthers and was commonly referred to as "Cathead." |
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CRANE CREEK PROMENADE AREA |
| PEOPLE OF MELBOURNE |
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To honor Peter Wright, early settler, a black freedman, the legendary sailing mailman, who regularly sailed from Titusville to Malibar to deliver mail to riverside settlements. |
| MILITARY MUSEUM OF MELBOURNE |
| During our wanderings, we happened upon the Military Museum of Melbourne. In addition to a well done history of the area, we came upon the names of early forts of the area built mostly to protect the early settlers from the Seminole Indians. |
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| FORTS THAT HAVE GUARDED MELBOURNE |
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FORT ANN The fort was named after a captain's girl friend, "the prettiest girl in the world". It was only used for a short time as a supply station for operations along the Indian River Lagoon, and points south. Much of the structure was accidentally burned while soldiers were clearing the land. |
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FORT BUTLER Fort Butler was one of several military installations designed to protect the St Johns River. It served as an important link with other garrisons in Central Florida. The fort was located across the river from Fort Volusia which had been abandoned due to epidemic disease. |
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FORT CAPRON Ft Capron was established in 1846 as a guard post for the Indian River Inlet. It was the last active Fort in the area and operated in to the 1850's. The small town of St. Lucie now covers the site. submitted by M Baum 9'08
Ft Capron was built
in 1849 and named for Major Erastus Capron, who had been the Company's
Commander in the second Seminole War and the Mexican War. He was felled,
sword in hand in 1847 fighting Mexicans. A group of renegade Seminole
Indians attacked and wounded William Russell, and killed John Barker in
July 1849 and the fort was built in response to this act to protect the
Indian River citizenry.
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FORT McNEIL This stockade with block houses on diagonal corners was constructed in 1837. It was named after Lt John Winfield Scott McNeil, who died at age 19 when he and his men attempted to ambush a group of Seminoles. |
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FORT MELLON A military camp on Lake Monroe was renamed Fort Mellon after Captain Charles Mellon was killed in battle on February 8, 1837. Its central location made it an important base for operations in southern Florida. The fort also provided the local area with its first medical service. |
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FORT PIERCE Fort Pierce was established on the banks of the Indian River in 1837 as headquarters under General Jesup for the Okeechobee area. It was named after major B K Pierce, brother of President Franklin Pierce. The city of Ft Pierce now occupies the fort site and the surrounding area. |
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FORT REID This fort was built in 1840 and named after Lt Robert Raymond Reid, who became the 4th governor of Florida. It was the official headquarters for the St Johns District, with orders to protect local settlements. Many soldiers stationed here fell victim to malaria and yellow fever. |
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SECOND SEMINOLE WAR 1835 - 1842 The second Seminole war was the longest and most expensive in the history of the United States. No one knows how many Seminole Indians died, but the U S Army lost 1500 soldiers, mostly from sickness. About 4000 Seminole and African Americans were removed to Oklahoma, costing the government about $10,000 for each person that was forced to leave Florida |
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FORT TAYLOR Ft Taylor was named after Col Zachary Taylor who later became the 12th President of the U S. Col Taylor replaced General Jesup who was under criticism for the questionable method of Osceola's capture. (done under a flag of truce). The Colonel was an avid leader who is remembered for the Battle of Okeechobee. |
| DOWNTOWN MELBOURNE |
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| CHURCHES IN MELBOURNE |
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UNITED CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH The First Congregational Church of Melbourne was organized December 6, 1889. It was the southernmost Congregational Church in the United States at that time. For almost four years, public services of the church were held in the Methodist Episcopal Church alternating with those of the Methodist brethren. |
| In 1892, a decision was made to erect a permanent church building. W H Powell gave the lot and the Congregational Church Building Society gave $500 for the building. The sanctuary was completed and the first service held on the first Sabbath in July 1893. Almost the entire population of Melbourne attended that service. The building was considered the best and probably the most beautiful church building on the Florida east coast south of Daytona Beach. The present building was erected in 1957. |
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UNITED CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH |
| RIVERVIEW DRIVE |
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RIVERVIEW DRIVE The older homes on the river side of this street, going north were mostly built in the period 1890 - 1905 Riverboat crews, laying over in Melbourne, often worked as carpenters on these homes. |
| The Stewart home immediately to the east of this sign was built in 1893 by Theodore Mismer. The next house, north, was built by Elizabeth Eaton about the same year. The next house was built by the Phillips family who had a pineapple plantation on the peninsula to the east. |
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STEWART HOME |
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At the far northern end of the street is the W T Wells home, known as Green Gables, and built in 1897. At that time Green Gables was far out of town, but wells surveyed his land, bought horses and plows and had shell roads laid out in each direction from the house. |
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GREEN GABLES |
| THE CAUSEWAY |
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CAUSEWAY Ernest Kouwen Hoven, a land developer and promoter of Indialantic-by-the-Sea in 1918 - 1919, realized that if the seaside town was to become a resort/residential community, a bridge must be built from the mainland to the peninsula. He contracted local carpenters, set up saw mills in various parts of the county and built the first narrow wooden bridge across the Indian River in 1919. It was completed in 1921. |
| It was 16 feet wide, the steel draw was operated by hand, and it took a total of 14 minutes to open and close the bridge. Kouwen Hoven collected a toll of 10 cents from motorists using the bridge and enforced a speed limit of 10 MPH. In 1947, the first concrete and steel bridge (with causeway) was completed and the old wooden bridge was torn down. Picture to right is of the old bridge. |
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| FRONT STREET |
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FRONT STREET Front Street was the original business section of Melbourne. It came into existence in the 1880's as dry goods, grocery stores, a fish house boat building and the post office were located along the waterfront. In 1894, Melbourne's second newspaper, the Melbourne times was founded in a building on Front Street. The population of the town at the time was 157. |
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TRYSTING STEPS AND BLUFF WALK Originally wooden steps mounted the bluff, providing a means for pedestrians to go from the Front Street business section to the hotels and residences along the high bluff. |
| At the top of the steps, along bluff walk, were the Carleton Hotel built by Emma Strawbridge, and the Idlewylde Hotel. The Carleton was destroyed by fire in 1904 and rebuilt almost immediately. The Idlewylde was also destroyed. The second Carleton Hotel burned in 1925. The steps were a popular place for the young people of Melbourne to meet during their courtship and bluff walk was the local "lover's lane" on cool evenings, if the mosquitoes weren't too bad. |
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NANNIE LEE HOUSE This home was built about 1905 by John and Nannie Lee who moved here from Albion, NY. They affectionately named it "The Terrace." The home was the scene of many ice cream socials and other events sponsored by the ladies of the Congregational Church. |
| Descendants of the Lees, and others in
the community, remember the house as being one of the major shelters during
hurricanes. Family and friends would seek refuge here during storms because
the home was so well constructed. Other major shelters in the community
were the ice plant and the Melbourne Hotel.
In 1918, Nannie Lee was hostess to a marine aviator who was scouting suitable landing fields along the East Coast of Florida. After landing on the prairie west of Melbourne, Captain Roben, the pilot, was brought into Melbourne and Mrs. Lee served him a chicken dinner. The present owners purchased the property in 1978 and restored the home to its original design. |
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NANNIE LEE HOUSE |
| The Riverside Hotel was on the east side of Front Street. A city dock extended 1400 feet into the river and steamboats stopped here. The southern end of Front Street was originally called Hatterman's Point, then Stewart's Point and later Vorkeller's Point. Fire destroyed all of the commercial buildings along Front Street in 1919 because the fire engine became bogged down in sand and never made it to the fire. A citizens bucket brigade was unable to cope with the blaze. |
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ORANGE SPOT INN The original hotel on this site was built in 1854 on property which Richard W Goode purchased from Thomas Mason, first white settler of Melbourne. Mrs. A W Goode operated the "Rooming House," then called it the Goode House. |
| In 1894, the Campbell family
purchase the property, enlarged the hotel and changed the name to the
Bellevue Hotel. A water wheel and a cement pool were added.
In the early part of the twentieth century, tennis matches were held on the Bellevue's tennis courts and the entire population of Melbourne came out to watch. In 1920, Harry Balsley bought the Bellevue Hotel and changed the name to Orange Spot Inn. The Inn was destroyed by fire January 12, 1927. |
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ORANGE SPOT INN |
| PARKS IN MELBOURNE |
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CAMPBELL PARK Many acres in this area were originally owned by Peter Wright, a black man and one of the first settler of this area. He sold his property to Thomas Mason, an English recluse who later sold the property to Richard W Goode for $110. |
| The property became grounds of the Goode
House (a motel). Later renamed the Bellevue Hotel located where the Orange
Spot Apartments are now.
About 1924 the Flatiron Building was erected. Part of the property was deeded to the City for a street, and this triangular point of land began to sprout trees. Checker players and horseshoe pitchers. Later band concerts, political rallies, auctions, gopher races and marbles were enjoyed here. William C Campbell, owner of the property in 1928, gave the land to the city for a park. |
| SIGNS OF THE TIMES IN MELBOURNE |
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| FRED'S HEADS | EATZ |
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