DISCOVER COCOA BEACH

Cocoa Beach is a city in Brevard County, Florida. The population was 12,482 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S Census estimates of 2005, the city had a population of 12,435..

Cocoa Beach came to life during the sixties due to the space program. The town was host to many young families where one or both parents worked on some aspect of the space program. After manned space flights, the town hosted astronaut parades. Before there was a "Silicon Valley," Cocoa Beach and other surrounding towns were full of the best and brightest technical minds around.

Children raised here were sometimes referred to as "Space Brats." The community was once so full of children that the schools overflowed and portable class rooms were built to host them. It was not unheard of for there to be 45 children per classroom.

Cocoa Beach was hosts to families from all over the country and the world. It was a true melting pot. It was a town with relatively little culture as it grew up out of nothing to become a bustling town.

Many of the homes in Cocoa Beach are build on dredged up land. Land was dredged for the spaced needed to build homes. Life in Cocoa Beach moved from one tiny local market and dirt roads to strip malls and many amenities.

In the earlier days, the beach was not brimmed with hotels, apartments, and condominiums, it used to be native beach and local jungle. This changed in the late 70s and 80s.

After the Apollo program came to an end, and before the Shuttle program was in full swing, the town suffered from layoffs. Many families lost their jobs, or simply moved away. People could not sell their homes and walked away from them. Technology moved away and Cocoa Beach become more of a retirement community. The space program has never been the same.

Cocoa Beach was the setting for the 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie, although only one episode was actually filmed there (Jeannie's wedding). Barbara Eden was actually a host in a local parade some years after the show was no longer on the air.

The city is just south of Cape Canaveral on Florida's eastern "Space Coast". Besides Cape Canaveral and the Atlantic Ocean itself, the city is probably best known for being the location for the world-famous "One of a Kind" Ron Jon Surf Shop - a mammoth 52,000 square foot palace of surf, skate, and beach apparel - and is the world's largest and most famous surf shop. The original store was a tiny one room shop. It is open 24 hours a day, and covers two floors. Behind the surf shop is a museum dedicated to surfing and a surf school. There is also a sculpture garden.

FAMOUS CITIZENS OF COCOA BEACH

Cocoa Beach is the hometown of surfer Kelly Slater, Carrot Top and Chasey Lain.

From Wikipedia.org, the Free Encyclopedia

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