This is a multi part series about the history of Port Canaveral. Geographically significant for centuries, and from its early days of conception as an actual inlet to the Atlantic in the 1870s, the port now plays a major role in the business and commerce of the entire region.

It all started in 1915 when Ernest Kouwen-Hoven moved to Melbourne and purchased a strip of beachside land lying between the Indian River and the Atlantic Ocean. He envisioned this property as becoming an exclusive beachside resort and indeed it did. This one-square mile became known as “Indialantic-by-the-Sea” The first map of this area was recorded in 1916.

The Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge on the Indian River Lagoon in East Central Florida became the first national wildlife refuge in March 1903. President Theodore Roosevelt signed the executive order making Pelican Island the first federal bird reserve, the forerunner to the national wildlife refuge system.

This is a unique 100 year old building that has been rehabilitated to be used for history exhibits and also for art, education, community functions, and other subjects of interest

Section of Abraham Ortelius’ ‘Theatrum Orbis Terrarum’ Shows Cape Canaveral in First True Modern Atlas.