Cocoa, Florida: A History

Cocoa is the gateway to America’s Spaceport. But before it became the tourist haven it is today, it was a small village settled by fishermen and their families. The city’s location on the Indian River Lagoon made it central to early steamboat passage and breathed life into fishing and commerce. After World War II, the space age brought science and engineering to nearby Cape Canaveral. The city also has a history of baseball nearly as long as the sport itself. It was home to the Cocoa Fliers of the 1940s and hosted the Houston Colt 45s during spring training for twenty years. Join author Bob Harvey as he recounts the sunny history of one of the Space Coast’s oldest cities.