Cocoa, FL – HLP3.0

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Cocoa

Cocoa is a city in Brevard County, Florida. The population was 17,140 at the 2010 United States Census.^[1] It is part of thePalm Bay–Melbourne–Titusville Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Several stories circulate among Cocoa old timers as to how the town got its name. One story says that the mail used to come by river boat and was placed in an empty tin box labeled Baker’s Cocoa. The box was nailed to a piling in the river next to downtown. Additionally, an early hotel in the area, located on the Indian River lagoon, was named Cocoa House.^[4]

In 1885, the S. F. Travis Hardware store opened. It is still in business in 2014.^[5]

Cocoa’s business district was destroyed by fire in 1890, but soon, significant development began to occur with the extension of the Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and Indian River Railway to Cocoa.^{[citation needed]}

The city was chartered in 1895.^[6] In the winter of 1894-1895, Cocoa experienced a second economic setback when the “Great Freeze” destroyed the citrus crop and forced many citrus workers to seek new occupations. According to one source, by 1903, the population of Cocoa had dropped to 382.

During the second decade of the 20th century, population growth and economic development in Cocoa accelerated. The state business directory of 1911-1912 set the population at 550. By 1925, the population was estimated at 1,800. During the Great Depression, the local economy declined and the two local banks failed. Still, by 1930, the population had risen to 2,200.^{[citation needed]}